Deceiver - DIIV: Review
is a New York based shoegaze and dream pop band who exploded in 2012 with an excellent debut record Oshin. They got praise from all over for their revitalization of Shoegzae music and the energetic pacing and songwriting that appears all over the record. After dropping a second record in 2016 there was some questioning about the groups switch to a sweeter more dream pop oriented sound and Is The Is Are was a record that let down some early fans, but found the group a whole new crowd. Now three more years later the band is returning with a record whose singles indicate a return to form to the groups shoegaze roots.
Review By Lavender:
It's never been a secret that I love Shoegaze music new and old so I was already a big fan of DIIV by the time they released their second record in 2016. Despite the fact that their sophomore album wasn't what I was expecting, I thought it was still a decent record. The wait between releases made me forget just how blistering and energetic the sound of the bands debut record was, something I was reminded of when I heard the singles for this album, specifically Blankenship. But now that it's here I've remembered what made me fall in love with the band all the way back in 2013.
Let's talk about those singles because they are some of the most noteworthy tracks here. It started with Skin Game a song I enjoyed quite a bit with a super sharp riff and a touching soft delivery f the vocal passage that is consistently catchy, The songwriting just really shines here and the execution manages to hold its own well enough to equate to a good song. The second single Taker may have been the weakest of the three I just don't see a whole lot about it that makes it stand out, the band runs through the heavily shoegaze inspired routine that populates much of this record before fading out at a seemingly arbitrary point.
The moment that my excitement for the record went into a tailspin was the third and final single leading up to the record, the brilliant Blankenship. The track may be the best song DIIV have ever released as it creates a brilliant combo of a sharp and hypnotic refrain backed by heavy passages of brilliant instrumentation that all comes together to feel like the catharsis of the DIIV sound. The huge mix makes the heavy and chugging guitar passages feel so overwhelming and I'm pretty confident that this will be the best track in this sound that you'll hear in 2019.
The record starts and ends off with some indulgent but fantastic tracks. Horsehead is the opener and it makes for a punchy and explosive introduction to the record. The song has an outright thrilling shoegaze sound that hits hard and while the songwriting is loose the vibe is more than effective. The closer is Acheron the longest song here pushing just over seven minutes. The track is long and winding and pairs some stark minimalism in in passages featuring whisper-singing that come in between massive explosions of sound that make for a constantly refreshing experience and while it does get a touch repetitive with the long runtime it still feels like a good final statement from the record.
The Spark is one of the better songs vocally while the guitars scream out of the background of the mix as usual. But it really is the overdubbed vocals that add a dream pop style depth to the track and the sounds work really well together. Most of the time that the record dives into a softer and dreamier approach it goes over pretty well. Like Before You Were Born has one of the most dense soundscapes of any song on the record and matches its airy vocal melodies with some pretty catchy light guitar riffing to make a song that is very easy to get lost in. Lorelei is straight up out of the Ride playbook with its lustful layers and slow progression between vocal passages that leads to grander and grander walls of sound as the track gets more and more swelling and dramatic.
There were only a few moments on the record that I wasn't in love with and even then they manage to have their moments. Between Tides is one of the breezier songs here and the sugary vocal melodies aren't my favorite. I wish there was a little bit more to this track because some of the sparse guitar passages seem to have a foundation of something interesting but never truly get there. For The Guilty may be my least favorite because the riffs just don't really do anything for me and the vocals sound way too clean for the sonic approach the band takes on the track. There is a post-chorus breakdown moment that I enjoy quite a bit but aside from that I'm not thrilled by anything here.
DIIV has dropped three records in 6 years and while they haven't settled on a uniquely identifiable sound, they have breathed life into genres that have hit a creative peak in the second half of this decade. Deceiver is yet another very solid release that walks the line between worship of some of the most legendary shoegaze records of the 90's with the driving creativity of modern indie music and put together a must hear for fans of shoegaze, dream pop and noise rock in 2019. 8/10
