Content Warning: This album contains some explicit language.
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- Say I…
- Happy To Be Here
It’s about time I did a review of a Dexter and The Moonrocks album.
About the Band
Dexter and The Moonrocks are a four piece band from Abilene, Texas. They formed in 2021 and released their first single, “Couch,” in August of that same year. That November, they released a self-titled EP. Not too long after, “Couch” went viral on TikTok and has fostered a very specific demographic of a fanbase.
The most exposure I have had to the band honestly has been on TikTok. The band markets themselves as “Western Space Grunge,” taking elements from both rock and country music. There’s a general theme of “sad boy music” in many of their songs. They also have a fanbase of “yallternative” or “hot tattooed women.” They really steer into the skid with their TikTok presence and hold competitions for their fans to lip-sync among other things, especially with the intent to feature these “yallternative” people.
I have been a fan of Dexter and The Moonrocks since the Winter of 2023 when my friend introduced them to me. I was invited to go to see them live that Winter at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC. At the time, I didn’t know many of their songs yet but I went and had a wonderful time. That being said, after that show, I was plunged down a rabbit hole despite my aversion to country music. My impressions of the band are honestly more grunge and rock rather than country but I do definitely see where they put the country in their songs and styles.
“Happy To Be Here” was released in May of 2025 and has six tracks. Most of the tracks have a similar feel but some of them are pretty starkly different.
Almost every one of these tracks has a slow and gradual start to get us into the breakdown and almost all of them have a focus on distortion guitar, a high pitch riff layered in, and a general melancholic feel. I think that “Say I…” is one of my favorite tracks because it just dives right into the energy and intensity of the distortion. I also feel like it has the most raw emotion with the exception of “Happy To Be Here.”
“Happy To Be Here” seems like one of the most accurate bittersweet songs. It’s evident to be a sentiment about the ups and downs of being on tour. The idea is that they’re happy to be there and that it’s all they wanted but they miss home and their people and not being on the move all the time.
“Breakin’” is another example of a song that is structured very differently than the others. Unlike with the other tracks on this EP, this song has a much more indie feel. There is less distortion and a lot of reverberation and higher pitched guitar going on. They kept this general feel throughout the song and incorporated it into the guitar solo too.
I’d have to say this is a very good album to listen to when it’s overcast or when you’re not sure if you’re sad or content or upset or so on. I know I tend to feel a bit unsure when things get too busy and I’m on autopilot. (They also have a song called “Autopilot” about just that feeling). When I feel that way, I like to have music that seems to understand and empathize.
— dj dragonfly
