Allentown, PA · emo · indie rock

Slingshot Dakota

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Allentown drums-and-keys duo — huge, earnest emo-pop from a deceptively small setup, married-couple chemistry included, huge sound from two chairs.

Slingshot Dakota started in 2003 on Long Island as a three-piece, with Carly Comando alongside guitarist Jeff Cunningham and drummer Pat Schramm, who also played in Latterman. The band's debut, Keener Sighs, came out in 2004. Schramm left in 2005 and was replaced by Tom Patterson; Cunningham exited in 2006, leaving Comando and Patterson to carry on as the two-piece they have been ever since, now based in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Comando plays keyboards and sings, Patterson plays drums, and the two are married. Their setup is built to fill space with only two instruments: bright, hammered piano chords set against loud, propulsive drumming. The lyrics tend to be direct and emotionally plain, sung in a clear, unaffected voice, landing somewhere between indie pop and punk.

The band has spent much of its life inside the DIY punk and emo communities of the Northeast, releasing records on independent labels and touring basements and small clubs. Their second album, Their Dreams Are Dead, but Ours Is the Golden Ghost!, arrived in 2007, and their third, Dark Hearts, came out in 2012 after they signed with Topshelf Records.

Outside the band, Comando has scored other projects, including the short video Everyday by photographer Noah Kalina and the documentary film Lily Topples the World.

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emoindie rock