We are going full hipster today (pardon "the H word") - new york subculture, people dressed like it is the early 1990s, low quality VHS video, frantic montage - the whole shebang. I have admitted on several occasions that though I often hit on such artsy pretentiousness, I appeal to it (to a certain extend) and DIIV are definitely okay in my book. With band founder Zachary Cole Smith of Beach Fossils (who are really awesome) and Colit Hewit, former drummer of the Smith Westerns (who are sort of awesome) DIIV started off as Dive, named after a Nirvana song. However in spite of the Nirvana references in terms of the previous band name and the lead singer's dyed blond hair, their first full-length Oshin sounds more joydivision-esque - dark, but in a melancholic dream-pop way, as you can hear in "Wait"

Lyrics are intangible and the vocals are like an additional instrument, rather than standing on their own, a tortured echo in the background. What dominates, builds up the tune and sets the mood, is the guitar. It is almost personified in the track, has its own live-cycle - it begins with a sweet, calm, repetitive refrain, only to evolve gradually into a distorted animal that consumes the whole melody towards the end. The video features Sky Ferreira, some female body parts, and a man's ass - basically every liberal arts student's / Tumblr blogger's dream, so it is worth checking out.

posted by Iva
March 2013