Words: Ryan Getz | Photo: Erika Mulligan

Digisaurus, the indie pop-meets-disco project of James Allison, is one of those projects that Tuned Up has been privileged to follow. Today, I noticed one of those Facebook rewind posts shared by a friend who promoted a secret house show featuring metalcore rising stars, Silent Planet. I remember that night well—I attended that house show, and then dashed down the street with fellow Tuned Up contributor Ray Cobra to Spacebar, to catch a show. That show was the live debut of Digisaurus.

From “Make a Move” to “Hit & Run” James Allison has shown a mastery of crafting danceable, infectious tunes that ought to appeal to all ages. Recently, Digisaurus has been dropping singles old-school style, with an A-Side and B-Side song. Consider it two releases for the price of one. The title track gets the promo, but the B-side serves as a reward to the listener for obliging the artist’s marquee release.

“Hit & Run” has me thinking two things. First, that James Allison appears to have been taking some inspiration from fellow Columbusite, Vesperteen. Indeed, both are one-man pop juggernauts with distinct tenor voices, and it seems like their songs have been getting simultaneously catchier and more outside the box over time. It might just be a coincidence. Second, the last time I got to see Digisaurus live was regretfully in 2016 at Independence Day—I haven’t caught a live set since! I hope to remedy that this Saturday at Spacebar in which Allison will perform his set solo, as he has been doing so on the road for the better part of 3 years. Support will come from effervescent new wavers, The Raquels, and the psych inspired dance pop of Captain Kidd. More info here. In the meantime we hope you’ll take the time to enjoy Digisaurus’ new single below: