Order here: THE MUFF DIVERS - DREAMS OF THE GENTLEST TEXTURE 12"
Oops, they did it again! A CÜLO and a NANCY guy in a band together? Are you serious? It's gonna be a weirdo for sure – one more time! Debut full-length from this great, underrated ETT band and I have to say I'm completely blown away.
I generally have a pretty low tolerance for bubblegum-punk, rock ‘n‘ roll, but THE MUFF DIVERS, just like their brother band NANCY do it absolutely perfectly. As on their earlier releases, they still sound a lot like the Jabbers thanks to their straightforward punk arrangements and rather high-pitched vocals, though MUFF DIVERS are even sillier and more over the top than the Jabbers (this is like over the top NANCY-level silliness I'm talking about here!).
At its core, this is simple, Ramones-influenced punk with a big Rock’n’roll dose, and at the end of the day could be compared with 90s bands like the Queers or 00s bands like the Spits as anything else, and while that is a very crowded tradition, MUFF DIVERS separate themselves from the pack with truly great songs.
You may not want to like this, but once it's on your turntable I guarantee you'll have a very, very difficult time removing it. Drum machine-fueled punk-pop with some of the most juvenile lyrics I've ever heard, but something about the songwriting here just knocks it out of the park for me. I think the reason is that everything is so centered on the vocals.
I mean, the riffs are interesting and the drum machine is actually pretty cool, but Muff Divers put those simple, catchy vocal melodies right up front in a way that reminds me of classics like Jay Reatard, the Dickies, and maybe even the Ramones. I feel like 90% of the music that I recommend here is riff-based; in other words, the songs tend to hang around guitar parts with the other instruments acting more as texture or accents, but Muff Divers are all about singing along.
I also love the whole idiotic aesthetic here, and if you flipped out about that NANCY stuff we did before (or if you have soft spots for both KBD and 90s underground punk) I have a feeling you'll love what this band is putting down as well. Highly recommended for everyone!
