Dayton band Sadbox’s new EP suggests ‘Everything’s A Shame’

The question was based around the idea that Levy, when not playing music, is a surgeon. I figured the precision it takes to succeed in that profession is not unlike the precision it takes to write a Sadbox song, just as Levy’s earnest and somewhat erratic lyrics are challenging, like how’d imagine his doctoral scrawl might appear on a prescription pad.

He’s a big believer in ecosystems, a kind of universality and oneness of experience. He often thinks about his role in the time-space continuum. Divorcing life experience from anyone’s art is simply not possible.

Sadbox’s new three-song EP, “Everything’s A Shame,” is a prime example of that concept.

The band will be performing Oct. 3 at the Hidden Gem Music Club in Dayton to celebrate the release of the album. Keowee Reload and Paul Monnin are also on the bill.

At one time, Sadbox was defined as “dad rock.” That description may have worked for a while (before keyboardist Rachele Alban joined the band), though it implied a sort of classic rock sound that Sadbox never quite had. The band is better off in no box whatsoever, but, if we must, “technical weirdo rock” feels superior to any other descriptor. Stuck somewhere between Danny Elfman’s Oingo Boingo and Steely Dan, Sadbox toys with zany character narratives through an angular and syncopated sound.

“I am the consequence of the road I travel,” Levy sings through an over-cranked mic in the chorus of the opening track, “Dust.” The track has a ‘90s grunge feel to it, which I suspect makes drummer Ray Owens pretty happy, considering the Pearl Jam tattoo on his arm. The line is apropos of Levy’s sentiments on ecosystems.

“I’m a function of everything,” Levy said, “and the more microscopic I get, the less true I am to the reality that’s there, which is: I’m the life that I’m projecting for myself, the universe as I envision. It’s just a consequence of everything that’s led up to now.”

The outside universe informs that decision as much as the interior universe. Levy put that loaded bit of insight into a stanza of a rock song, as he’s frequently known to do.

If you assume the song “All Rhymes for Scoops” is a rattling off of rhymes for the word “scoop,” you will be sorely disappointed. But if you anticipate the song being a meditation on the vapidity of social media, especially in regards to the futility of having meaningful online interactions, you’d be on the money. Levy calls social media the “argument platform,” suggesting there’s spinning and spinning, but no real scoop.

He says most of his lyrics are spat out over the course of 30 minutes to an hour. They may be adjusted and pushed into place later, but begin with a bevy of mumbled fluff syllables, non-words, and theoretical content. The syncopation is then paired to a sequence of words, which may explain Levy’s penchant for lyrical non sequiturs.

The final song on the EP “New Low,” however, comes from a true story. The song is based on the experience of Rachel and Eli Alban, Sadbox guitarist, finding a cat while cleaning up after a tenant, sung from the perspective of the cat left behind.

Down the basement stairwell, on the stoop in the garage, stepping ‘round the outside lookin’ in, there’s no water dish outside the door. The depressing narrative about abandonment is heightened by the song’s stripped-down production: a simple beat, some clean arpeggiated guitar, and dual vocals from Paul and Rachel. The climax of the cat’s hope for its owner’s return?

“You’re already gone. I guess there’s nobody home.”

Each of the three songs on the EP, stylistically varied and more raw than previous Sadbox releases, play into the album’s title. The phrase “Everything’s A Shame” can apply to many things in the modern world. According to Sadbox, those things include doomscrolling, lost and crooning felines, and the ultimate reality of impermanence.

Levy captures nutshell moments and converts them to technical weirdo rock songs.

“Anywhere I can shove enormity into something that’s mundane, I like to,” he said. “Anywhere I can find the mundane in something that’s enormous, I’ll try to do that, too, because it can’t be unconnected. I think that’s worth a song.”

Paul Levy doesn’t live in a dark headspace, despite what this batch of songs suggests. But he acknowledges that darkness exists and he sometimes feels it, too.

He’s precise, no matter what he’s doing in the universe.

Sadbox’s EP “Everything A Shame” is available Oct. 3 from Magnaphone Records. It was produced by Fred Valheick.

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