Six years after the release of their exuberant debut, Atlanta’s Worlds Greatest Dad returns next month their follow-up collection of emotive pop-punk, Better Luck Next Time. As heard on the pre-album singles, the soaring choruses are still here, as is the angst-ridden lyricism. The latest cut from the LP, “Taking One for the Team,” serves as a perfect example of the band’s maturation over the course of their absence, with crisper production leading up to a densely layered catharsis in its final moments. Meanwhile, vocalist Maddie Duncan taps into the complicated feelings of learning that their family dog was being put down at a moment of strain between them and their family. The lyrics aim to replicate that “feeling of responsibility and helplessness,” as Duncan notes.
“Around the same time Noah was being put to sleep,” they continue, elucidating on the song’s theme, “I was driving in the rain and saw this little black dog run onto the interstate. I did everything I could to try and get behind it and go slow and protect it from the cars speeding by, but it just kept sprinting. It dodged cars, looking back at me and I watched as it got hit but I had to just keep driving. It felt like a really fucked up fate or something and kind of sent me into a fear-of-death spiral. Being able to help as much as you can with something, while also not feeling responsible if it fails is really hard.”
Illustrating this idea is a music video for the track directed by Summer Schantz which stars Duncan acting opposite a clown who’s recreating all of Duncan’s movements (not a regular clown—it’s one of those freaky old-timey ones you’re family’s general practitioner always had sitting on his desk for some reason). Check it out below, and pre-order Better Luck Next Time here.
