Deaton Chris Anthony is back in the spotlight with his debut album Sid The Kid dropping this month and his new single "Shed Head" teasing the unique record that is to come. Deaton sets the scene of the album concept:
“Imagine this: I was a chubby ten-year-old, and my nickname was Sid the Kid. Korbin and I lived in this little shed in the middle of this forest. This shed had our computer, T.V. and all of our music gear. We’d walk to school nearby, and we hung out at the skate park and the bowling alley.”
His inspiration was his childhood growing up in Kansas with his best friend and brother Korbin. The record features a lightly fictionalized version of DCA and mini memoirs of his most emotion-evoking times.
What I found most interesting was the style of lyricism. Anthony’s normal quirky and cool lyrics take a childlike twist as they resemble something a kid would say - yet the impeccable production quality and track behind him transform the lyrics and before you know it you’re crying in the club. Let’s take a look track-by-track:
shed head - presents us with psychedelic, exotic, extravagant beats that are so strikingly syncopated. Combined with the rusty synths, it still packed that punk-pop punch DCA is known for.
REAL EYES - so. many. incredible. synths. Rough, raw, glitching synths. This is a new era of music where Musical Millennials are claiming their space.
behind the lockers - ****is another childhood memory that certainly goes hard when put to music. The song itself has such a playful vibe, and the words are playful as well - its almost a little silly and goofy.
i told you i hate this feeling - this slower emo ballad is making my eyes sweat a little tbh. It’s the first slow-down song of the record (and no, it doesn’t stop here). Acoustic guitars and strings galore, ending with a radio tuning (giving Dawn FM vibes) - it’s a great theme throughout the album used to transcend through his memories.
tell me what your friends say behind my back - we transition so seamlessly to a dawn funky song with 80’s old-school synth beats. Although the lyrics are simple to reminisce on how we talked as children, it’s still so powerful.
realize - ****is the interlude of contemplation and reflection for DCA. With a sample of “complicated” by our girl Avril Lavigne, it's a 2000’s rock beat that sparks strong nostalgia for all of us.
colors my dog - this song is getting me in my bag. It seems to be a ballad to his family dog named “Colors”. When he decides to leave home (‘this isn't the place for me’) he so vigorously expresses the love he has for the Labrador and accurately portrays how we all felt the first time leaving our precious puppy for a long while.
Go! - with so many static, buzzing synths makes this so 21st century and so hyperpop-esque. I love it.
Good Buy! My Old Life (feat. BENEE) - as he transitions to his new life away from his childhood, the thrill of earning money sets in, and the blissful experience of shopping and luxury hits him for the first time (even though when you’re 15, ‘luxury’ often means buying an Auntie Anne’s pretzel without your mom at the mall). …And the radio transitions into another memory.
real lies opens up with a hard static-y base beat that transitions into even more crazy synths. This production is unreal and I don't think I even want to know how many separate tracks this took to make. He closes out with some absolutely wack spoken bits. Some may even describe it as out-of-pocket. Anyway, it doesn’t matter bc it's sick (in a good way).
i don’t care about my parents hits home with angsty but resonating lyrics that some of us kids knew all too well. growing up was hard.
friends don’t hurt each other is just. Wow. - A slow-closing ballad with a prophetic deep voice coming from above and what seems to be a symphony of strings behind him. It’s about when he hurt his best friend (aka his brother) and the guilt you feel as a child when you hurt someone who you loved so simply.
i hope my dog missed me okay UPDATE: Deaton has returned home to his precious puppy Color, making this record come full circle (and thank god!!!). Nestled between sounds of distortion and old-school video games, this track ends on a Podcast Man talking about the steady progression of life and the changes that inevitably come with it - “Did you know every single one of our cells is renewed in 7 years? You’re still the same person you were as a kid, but-” and some more distortion.
deca - completely instrumental and transcendent, bringing us to the final song on this album. Production value is truly top-level. I may be biased, but Dirty Hit artists seem to share in common an elite production and diversity of styles that show their innate proficiency in all different genres and styles - and Deaton Chris Anthony is no exception to that.
angl we close out with angl, another instrumental track reminiscent of sonder, self-realization, and sympathy.
Another release well-crafted by Deaton Chris Anthony: Sid The Kid now sits in Deaton’s (and Dirty Hit’s) library of phenomenal records.
Rating - 4.5/5
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