Dad Jokes’ “Dad Max Beyond Punderdome” is the premiere track off the band’s upcoming EP Dad Max and the tune is a raucous party that showcases the band’s sense of fun and music ability. With blazing riffs, propulsive drums, and sing-along vocals, “Dad Max Beyond Punderdome” is an exuberant, groovy track that is as unabashed in its quest to get the listener to smile as a dad telling the daddest of jokes. And while the track’s punny title may garner either a chuckle or groan, the song itself is sure to have listeners smiling and moving along to its infectious beat and boisterous, rowdy energy.
Based out of Oakland, CA and made up of Silicon Valley tech professionals, Dad Jokes don’t seem to concern themselves with being the coolest or hippest band around, but they are definitely among the most fun. One need only check out their album art or catalogue of song titles to confirm that claim, something we suggest whether you’re looking to laugh, rock out, or laugh while rocking out. Finally, although the lyrics of “Dad Max Beyond Punderdome” suggest the “party’s over”, it seems clear it is just beginning for the band and their unique brand of rock and roll frivolity.
The band stopped their tech-go-tunes madness to answer a few questions for us.
What inspired the song specifically?
It was a bad pun i had in my brain for a while after finishing the first record. Both dad max and beyond punderdome jokes / ideas came before any of the actual song writing. From there, it was just a normal song writing process with regards to the instrumentation but, the lyrics came together much later. After we had finished all the instrumentation of every song on the ep, we went back and sequenced the sounds of the tracks and from there i came up with a narrative about fatherhood. Right now, a lot of my friends are having their first or second kid and, between the puns and my own weird feelings about having kids, it felt like a good topic for a concept piece. Beyond punderdome, specifically, is about dealing less fun parts of being a parent and more having to confront a fundamental change in yourself and who you are as well as the responsibility for shaping the mind of another human you’ve co created. Basically after the fun and magic parts here’s some real shit you gotta deal with.
Any fun anecdotes from the writing/recording process?
Two of us backed the Tiny Telephone Kickstarter for their new Oakland studio, and it was definitely one of the best things that could have happened to the recording. We picked a date as soon as they were available cause we knew they would fill up fast and kinda went from there. We lucked into working with Beau Sorenson after scanning though all the available engineers on the TT site and contacting a few of them. Beau was really great both on and off the internet.
Do you think that being tech guys lends itself to your musical talents?
For sure. Music when broken down to its rudimentary principles is very pattern driven and so is the tech industry.
What’s the best/worst dad joke you’ve heard lately?
WORST: I just read a joke about a tv controller. It wasn’t remotely funny.
BEST: Why was the wizard’s girlfriend always covered in hickeys? Because he’s a neck romancer.
Do you think dad jokes give dads a bad rap?
Yes, Dads are very bad at rapping.
How would you like your fans to enjoy this song?
While rollerblading past the tennis courts with their shirt tucked in.
Dad Jokes’ upcoming EP Dad Max is due out August 5 and is available for pre-order now on Bandcamp.
