DIIV "Doused"

New - Diiv - Doused

I’m not sure if it’s a conscious decision or not, but when a bunch of bands come out at the same time with the same word in their name, I tend to avoid that verbal movement fairly wholesale. In the past this has include bands with the word “Bear”, “Wolf”, “Whale”, “Field”, and lately, “Beach”. Whether this is fair or not, I don’t really know, or care, I like to try to keep bands straight in my age and substance-clouded mental rolodex.

So when I read that the principal in Diiv is Zachary Smith, a member of the Beach Fossils, I both a) am tempted to dismiss them out of hand b) clawing through my brain to see if I can pinpoint “which one is that?”

I might have to figure it out, because I rather enjoy this Diiv record in spite of myself. A fairly straight forward album of someone who clearly grew up listening to a lot of new wave and shoegaze, changes in the tempo and tone of the album are rare. But it’s a good driving tempo, and the guitar tones are clearly that of a student of the craft. Beautiful reverb drenched background guitars set a scene for a crisper lead and washy vocals. Not many big hooks or ear worms hear, just an extremely pleasant listen to a band that knows how to make pretty music without concerning themselves about being obnoxiously cute about it. A preciously rare quality in today’s environment. - MO