More about: DITZ

DITZ are back, baby! This time with their debut album The Great Regression, which hits on all things absurd with its palette of punk and noise. This is an album that owns its freedom, with no set narrative to be committed to. 

You’re greeted by ‘Clocks’, its singing riffs quickly twisting into something much more dark and corrupted. Frontperson Cal Francis explodes into the first preach, yelling to relieve anxiety, to remove the pressure of demands of life.

Previously-released single ‘Ded Würst’ tackles the bitter taste that workers are left with in their mouths by working minimum wage jobs in a country where the cost of living sky rockets and benefits are cut... Served up alongside the resentful lyrics are flurries of crushing cacophonies usually associated with the likes of Gilla Band. Already this record has reminded me to stay angry.

‘Summer of the Shark’ zones in on the media as feral and savage as shown here in how they hop from reporting on tragedy to tragedy. “The shark passes the anchor, the anchor weighs the shark, the anchor turns storytelling into a new form of art, sensation is key"—Francis phrases the ecosystem of news stations spectacularly.

'Three’ confronts themes of performative activism with middle-toned, counting riffs as a backdrop whilst the band antagonise and mock the ones who are guilty of meeting their social media activism quotas. It’s refreshing to hear a band actually speak on such a frustrating subject.

How often is it that lyrics make you feel like the artist is actually crawling beneath your skin, almost wearing you? Look no further than ‘The Warden’ and its warped words. The doom-inciting sound from DITZ’s guitars are thunderous and drums are struck like shocking lightning. It’s amazing how quickly things switch up though: ‘I Am Kate Moss’ has layers of vulnerability regarding the spectrum of gender identity. 

‘Hehe’ and ‘Teeth’ stand as a contrasting pair, the former more visceral and the latter with industrial-sized sounds. Both wail through sexual themes. Before you know it the last track presents itself. ‘No Thanks, I’m Full’s thrashing movements are full of vigour and the main hook: “I’ll be dancing to sobriety” is ironically a bitter pill to swallow. All ten tracks prove to be the mad scribblings found on the walls in a vibrant room of DITZ’s noise. 

The Great Regression is out now via Alcopop! Records.  

Issue Two of the Gigwise Print magazine is on sale now! Buy it here.

More about: DITZ