Fight Dice is a new Dungeons & Dragons-inspired band made up of some ’90s emo veterans, including vocalist Jay Gilkay (Evel), bassist Todd Bell (Braid, Hey Mercedes), drummer Dan Didier (The Promise Ring, Maritime), and guitarists Brett Schwandt (Evel, Ceilishrine) and Eric Arsnow (Tigernite, Devils Teeth), and their debut album Total Party Kill comes out on September 20 via Forge Again Records (pre-order). Todd sheds some light on the band’s formation:
During the pandemic, we were immersed in playing ‘D&D’ together online to ward off boredom and stay socially connected. When we could see each other more regularly and safely, as friends, we began practicing as a makeshift ‘band’ — another outlet to stay sane while all other remnants of being in our other bands were still on hold. We set about working on some musical parts we all had lying around, and the next thing you know we were all in a drop D tuning sludging along, having fun with our new project. Satisfied with what we were doing and with loads of ‘D&D’-inspired content for band direction and lyrics, we booked a show when it was okay to do so, settled on a name, and Fight Dice was officially born.
The first single is a noisy post-hardcore song called “Magic Pact,” and you can check that out below. The band is also playing Milwaukee’s Bay View Bash on September 21 and an album release show at Cudahy, WI’s X-Ray Arcade on October 25.
Fight Dice aren’t the only supergroup of ’90s emo musicians with a new song out today. Suburban Eyes (members of Christie Front Drive, Mineral, and Boys Life) have shared “4AM” from their upcoming self-titled debut album, which arrives August 30 via Spartan Records. Guitarist/vocalist Eric Richter (also of Christie Front Drive) says, “I had a cassette copy of Toad the Wet Sprocket’s ‘Fear’ in high school and the song ‘Is It For Me’ really resonated with me for some reason. I had a very vivid picture of how the lyrics looked like played out in my mind. ‘4AM’ is in that spirit.” Listen to that below too.
Fight Dice – Total Party Kill Tracklist
Roll For Initiative
Chaos Orb
Battle of the Evermoors
Attack the Drider
Magic Pact
Go Time
The Journey
The Hardest Thing
Mimics, Attack!
Owlbear
I Cast Darkness
Witchroot
Anthem
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For even more ’90s emo, listen to our new podcast episode with The Get Up Kids about Something To Write Home About turning 25: