Slingshot Dakota (Photo by David Geeting)

“I think, in the past, I felt like I needed to write a certain style to connect with the people that liked the band,” says Carly Comando, the vocalist and keyboardist for Pennsylvania two-piece Slingshot Dakota. That sound is one that skirted the lines of punk and indie while stretching the limits of the band’s two-piece setup, leading Noisey to bill the band as a “punk rock anomaly.” Comando and drummer Tom Patterson carved out their sound on 2007’s Their Dreams Our Dead, But Ours Is The Golden Ghost!, a high-energy template that even shined through on Slingshot Dakota’s more somber follow-up, 2012’s Dark Hearts.


Since Dark Hearts, though, much has changed for Slingshot Dakota. For one, Comando and Patterson have gotten married. Comando also won an Emmy for having her song “Everyday” used in an episode of The Simpsons, leading both of them to quit their jobs to focus on Slingshot Dakota full time. It’s what enabled the writing process for the band’s upcoming album, Break—which will be released by Topshelf Records on March 11—to have a longer gestational period. “For the first time ever we just kept going with the writing process. We didn’t do what we had done in the past, which was write 10 songs, have a record, and then record it,’” said Comando.

The A.V. Club is premiering “Paycheck,” the first song from Break, below. The song sees Comando’s keyboards running various effects that give the track a thick, fuzzy feel; it’s a far cry from the manic movements of Golden Ghost, shifting the band’s focus from raucous runs on the keyboard to full chords and a newfound patience. These types of songs make up the bulk of Break, which not only features a song with guitar as the foundation (“Too Much”), but also embraces the band’s ability to take new strides with striking confidence.


Pre-orders for Break are available now through Topshelf Records.