Ditz – ‘Never Exhale’ album review: noise rock not for the faint of heart
THE SKINNY: Not many people talk about the first edition of Mutations Festival; a two-day multi-venue extravaganza in Brighton that seemingly undersold tickets despite boasting an incredible lineup, but when it first descended upon the south coast in 2015, there was one particular venue that played host to a duo of acts that will forever hold a place in my heart for having been a unique spectacle.
Finishing off day two of the festival were Lightning Bolt and METZ; two incredibly raucous acts that pulverised the ears of most of the people that had piled into Concorde 2. Lightning Bolt were a hyperactive and freakish barrage of jazz-inflected noise, while METZ were a far more polished version of the ugly and distorted sounds that preceded them. Either way, it’s a show that sticks in my mind for having been the sort of performance that inspires people to start a band.
It just so happens that Brighton-based noise rock outfit DITZ got the big idea of forming a band at that particular show, and I, for one, can’t blame them for making this decision. While their music doesn’t share the same frenetic qualities as Lightning Bolt, there are certainly similarities on the show with METZ, as well as other prominent acts that fit within the same genre categorisation, such as The Jesus Lizard and Shellac. However, despite having some sense of common ground with these other acts, the Brightonian group are certainly showing signs of carving their own lane for themselves on their second album, Never Exhale.
There’s an overarching sense of dystopia to the landscapes that lead vocalist CA Francis draws you into across the record, and backing up their often tense lyrical atmospheres is a band that knows exactly how to play with dynamics in a way that leaves the listener feeling somewhat uneasy. However, while contemporaries of theirs, such as Gilla Band, go for an all-out onslaught of terror, DITZ aren’t afraid to take things in a more palatable direction, with elements of dance-punk creeping through to deliver an occasional desire to move around to the otherwise morbid soundtrack.
From depictions of mutilated bodies to being taken on a hellish journey into the afterlife, the themes of Never Exhale are far from a comforting experience, but there’s a poeticism to Francis’ writing that makes the lyrics jump out from behind the brutal backing of the band and capture the imagination of the listener. It’s not always perfect and can sometimes rely too heavily on clumsy metaphors, but the imagery is so visceral across the record that it’s hard to ignore it as being one of the major focal points of this release.
It’s not exactly a giant leap from their debut album, The Great Regression, but it is one that demonstrates a small sense of growth and desire to experiment with a broader range of dynamics, often thrusting from moments of tense quiet to riffs that clatter the ribcage. If they keep up the gradual build of intensity, then the direction of future albums might become a truly harrowing experience. For now, this is simply the sound of a band worming their way into the macabre underworld and seemingly finding catharsis from this slow descent into chaos.
For fans of: Dystopian horror, bottling up your rage until you’re ready to burst, the Arial font family.
A concluding comment from a freediver: “Never Exhale? Sounds like an easy listen.”
Never Exhale track by track:
Release Date: January 24th | Producer: self-produced | Label: Republic of Music
‘V70’: Sinister and cacophonous sounds play out over this brief instrumental introduction, plunging the listener headfirst into the nightmarish sonic world that the album inhabits. While the band’s lyrical bite isn’t anywhere to be seen, you know exactly where things are about to go. [3.5/5]
‘Taxi Man’: The driving quasi-disco beat thuds its way through the album’s lead single, while vocalist C.A. Francis paints morbid images of taxidermied animals and grisly decaying carcasses. This is the brand of rambunctious noise rock that DITZ want you to recognise them for. [4/5]
‘Space/Smile’: Never given enough room to grow into something more, it feels too early on in the album to deliver such a short and scant track. While the propulsiveness of the rhythm and the discordant guitars still feel in line with the rest of the record, it feels like it’s over in all too brief of a flash. [3/5]
‘Senor Siniestro’: Where the previous track fails to deliver any dynamic variety in order to give a sense of building intensity, we return to a frightful mix of atonal noise over the top of a driving rhythm section, as Francis shrieks their dark, existentialist prose. [3.5/5]
‘Four’: Much of the record appears to pride itself on sounding as massive as possible, but this song is at its most powerful when stripped of all the distortion. DITZ might prefer to turn things up to maximum volume, but when experimenting with production styles that remove the carnage, they have an eeriness about them. [3.5/5]
‘God on a Speed Dial’: The production choices are a little grating on this track, and the similies used in the lyrics are a big misstep as they feel a lot more forced than on the otherwise vivid images brought up over the course of the rest of the record. [3/5]
‘Smells Like Something Died in Here’: Once again, we’re treated to an example of how diverting from the more meat and potatoes riffing and building up tension with a broader palette pays off for the band, and the way they allow an idea to continue sprouting extra layers as the song progresses makes it one of the standouts. [4/5]
‘18 Wheeler’: As above, this song is another gradual build through a grim landscape of Francis’ dystopian visions, and the lack of any discernable tune in this one really lends itself to the apocalyptic feel. [4/5]
‘The Body as a Structure’: Again, the band come through with sudden loud/quiet shifts, but it’s the detuning guitar sound in the verses that provides the song’s most gripping element. [3.5/5]
‘Britney’: There’s a frailty to the song in its opening section that takes itself through multiple twists and turns, with electronic bass rumbles and a truly heavy climax befitting of the album. “We build and we build and we build” is what DITZ demonstrate best on Never Exhale, and this closer does it brilliantly. [4/5]
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