While Homestyle Dinner Rolls remains a lesser-known band, with their top song sitting at roughly 800,000 streams, they still have one of the most unique sounds in the alt rock and indie scenes. 

The band released their first single “Standing By” in 2021, though their sound has adapted quite a bit since then as they now lean into a heavier sound in their debut album “Worthless Highs” that came out in October. 

The album deals with heavy topics like alcoholism, depression and marginalized communities in politics; The album’s title track zones in on the realization that illicit substances and alcohol are doing more harm than good,  giving the song a feeling of hopelessness and a desire for something more. This song is a perfect mood setter for the rest of the album as well as the band’s discography. 

Despite the band’s habit of producing more bleak music, the album features a few upbeat love songs as well including tracks such as “Everyday,” “Mrs. Serendipity,” “Drink me Dry” and more. The band leans into a more fictional story telling style of writing for the song “Drink me Dry,” which tells the story of someone falling in love with a vampire with musical inspiration from western folk. While the track has its differences from their normal sound, it still showcases the band’s talent and how persistant it is in every style.

Despite the mixed genres in the album, Homestyle Dinner Rolls has a recognizable sound that is very distinct to the band. Lead vocalist and bassist Dany Kawai has a wide range and proves his potential throughout the album. Guitarist Jake Follette’s voice is heard in a more leading way for the first time, moving forward from the backing vocals he typically does. 

Homestyle Dinner Rolls continues to expand their following through social media with around 195,000 followers on tiktok, and over 200,000 instagram followers, primarily gaining this following from comedy videos. 

The Utah-based band showed their immense talent through this album and successfully includes messages based in politics, love, and heartbreak that all fans can relate to. “Worthless Highs” is an amazing album exemplifying the living indie punk areas of current music while still having a sound that is different from other bands and separates them from other uncharted artists.