The Dangerous Summer

The Dangerous Summer

The Dangerous Summer is an American emo pop and pop punk group from Ellicott City, Maryland. The band forms in 2006 and remains active. Its core members include AJ Perdomo, who handles lead vocals and bass guitar, and Cody Payne, who plays rhythm guitar and backing vocals. The group also includes Matthew Kennedy on lead guitar and backing vocals and Ben Cato on drums.

Formation and early releases

The Dangerous Summer begins as a four-piece with Perdomo and Payne joined by Bryan Czap on lead guitar and Tyler Minsberg on drums. The band independently releases a five-song EP, There Is No Such Thing as Science, in 2007. That release leads to interest from Hopeless Records, which issues the band’s debut EP, If You Could Only Keep Me Alive, with a similar track listing.

Albums and line-up changes

The band’s debut studio album, Reach for the Sun, is released in 2009 and reaches number 42 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. In 2010, the band says it will perform the album front to back on its first headlining tour. A digital acoustic version of Reach for the Sun follows in 2011. Later that year, the band releases its second full-length album, War Paint, and also plays the Warped Tour. Tyler Minsberg returns briefly in 2011 before leaving again, and Bryan Czap leaves in 2012.

The third studio album, Golden Record, appears in 2013 with Ben Cato on drums and Matthew Kennedy on lead guitar. AJ Perdomo leaves the band in September 2013, and the group later reunites in 2017 as a trio without Cody Payne.

Later activity

The Dangerous Summer announces a new album in 2017, and the self-titled The Dangerous Summer is released in 2018. The singles Fire, Ghosts and Valium are issued before the album. The band cites influences including Kings of Leon, Taylor Swift, Third Eye Blind, Bright Eyes, U2, Phil Collins, Explosions in the Sky, Jimmy Eat World and Andrew McMahon.

Name

The band’s name comes from Ernest Hemingway’s novel of the same title.