Blooming with The Greeting Committee's New Album, Dandelion
Written by Gianna Cicchetti
Graphic by Rebekah Witt
As of this very moment, indie-rock band The Greeting Committee’s new album, Dandelion, is out in the world! The Kansas City-based quartet, who you might have heard featured in the new To All The Boys... movie or on tour with bands like Hippo Campus, released its new album on September 24th. Dandelion is the highly anticipated full-length follow up to the band’s 2018 debut, This Is It. To celebrate the release, I had the pleasure of attending a press conference surrounding the record featuring three out of the four band members: Addie Sartino, Brandon Yangmi, and Pierce Trucotte.
Dandelion is a very human record, and the emotions throughout are part of what makes it such a good listen. It was even influenced by pieces of media that make the band feel deep emotions, including Fiona Apple, movie soundtracks like The Perks of Being A Wallflower, and Bon Iver. As Sartino described, the album is about the process of grieving, and in particular, grieving the potential you could have lived up to. It is a chronological story, eventually feeling a little more hopeful by the last seconds of “Ten,” the final track. The band (the three aforementioned members and Austin Fraser) maintained a high level of vulnerability on this record, as was heavily touched upon on the call. Even the fun, quirky track “Make Out” in the middle of the record, which isn’t as emotional as some of the other songs, displays Sartino at her most vulnerable, showing a different side to her typically serious lyricism.
The Greeting Committee has proven once again why the band should be on your radar with Dandelion. One of the strongest aspects of the record is Addie Sartino’s lyricism—regardless of your situation, it is easy to feel so present in the vivid narratives she describes. The production on the record is just slightly fuzzy, which adds to the feeling of vulnerability throughout the entire album. A favorite for me has been “Float Away,” the grungy single about depression and how it affects one’s life. The song’s instrumentation and production perfectly complement the lyrical themes and make me feel like I’m drifting off into a haze and floating away. Another highlight on the record is the penultimate track “How Long?” Its upbeat tempo can almost make you forget how the lyrics are full of anxious energy, but when you do take note of them, they hit hard as they can be quite relatable.
One of my biggest questions while listening to Dandelion has been what songs will become the fan favorites, especially in a live setting. The fan community that The Greeting Committee has developed is something that the band is very proud of. Much of the press conference was spent highlighting the genuinely close relationship between TGC and its fans, both online and at shows. One of the obvious standouts on the album that will definitely resonate with fans is “Ada,” a song in part sharing the experiences of the band’s dear friend, who is a trans woman. Many identify with the music released by The Greeting Committee due to the fact that Sartino is an openly queer woman and has used she/her pronouns in lyrics, and this song furthers the positive representation for LGBTQ+ people in indie music. The song’s lyrics are absolutely worth taking the time to listen to, and the shift to a more hopeful tone at the end of the song is a powerful reminder that queer narratives don’t always need to fully center around hardship.
Listening to Dandelion feels almost as cathartic as it was for the band to work on. Even after one listen, this record is guaranteed to become the soundtrack to your own life’s movie. The band, who has been together since high school, are even more connected on this record as their chemistry shines through on each track. The members shared during the press conference that they set high standards for this record, and to me, it feels like such a natural progression from the band’s previous work. Now I’m just excited to see the band on the road, hopefully sometime soon!