Of course, the music has only ever been part of the overarching Static Dress package, with everything from aesthetic subtleties to custom-made comic books adding to their vivid alternate universe. It’s to their enormous credit, then, that these tracks stand strong on their own. With characteristically dreamy/nightmarish production by Loathe mastermind Erik Bickerstaffe, everything from the unhinged Courtney, just relax, to shoegazey highlight Attempt 8 work as affecting individual compositions, but also components in a greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts bigger picture.
Crucially, everything is governed by authentic emotion, too. It means that the subtle swerve towards positivity and playfulness in the final stretch feels all the harder earned, with the jaunty Unexplainabletilesleavingyouwonderingwhy (Welcome In) again evoking MCR’s glory days before we drift through the woozy Marisol and into soaring closer cubicle dialogue.
It’s that kind of intuitive eye for detail – and uncompromising ability to execute – that makes RCD feel like some lost masterpiece from the time before ‘emo’ became a dirty word, and also something tearing a brand new hole for the future.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: Glassjaw, My Chemical Romance, letlive.
Rouge Carpet Disaster is out now.