In true fashion, I am starting a new blog feature (that I likely will not be able to maintain) with a writeup of a record that came out over a year ago.
Today marks the first official installment of Tiny Desktop Reviews. I intend this feature to provide brief capsule reviews of records, movies, TV shows, and other pop culture ephemera that captures my attention from time to time. I have been testing this format here and there on my Bandcamp page, if you are interested.
Up first is DIIV’s Frog in Boiling Water, which, yes, was released last May.
On Frog in Boiling Water, DIIV reach for the galactic heights of Duster but can’t seem to get off the ground. Sludgy shallow guitars drag paper thin vocals into a narcotic murk. “Everyone Out” and “Fender on the Freeway” are pretty enough, but the album as a whole lacks the conviction that the band earnestly wants to convey. Only “Somber the Drums,” with its drone-drenched interstitial noise collage, offers a glimmer of what a Political DIIV Aesthetic could actually be (if we even needed one). Bring your pillow in from the rain. You’re gonna’ need it. Frog in Boiling Water is some top-tier snoozegaze.