DITZ – Never Exhale
Never Exhale is not for the faint of heart. A breathlessly intense, punishing listen filled with audible dynamism, sonic interest and gnarled heaviness
In 2020 Brighton five-piece DITZ released their 5 Songs EP, a deliciously raw collection of punchy, indie-post-punk. A couple of years later came The Great Regression, which was, despite its title, a great leap forward, maintaining their instrumental hostility whilst expanding the scope from scrappy, hooky bursts into more ambitious, expansive, and artistically diverse territory.
Never Exhale continues that trend with ten tracks combining the crushing post-punk low-end of Idles, the writhing indie-punk intensity of Honningbarna, and the art-rock experimentation of Squid (albeit without the jazz). First-half highlights include the aggro swagger of Taxi Man, the grunting bass of Space:Smile, and the pummeling riffs of Senor Siniestro. But it’s the album’s latter half that really shows DITZ off: the stabbing, squealing, echoing monster that is God on a Speed Dial, the terror-laden build of Smells Like Something Died in Here (complete with orchestral 80s horror movie chimes and synths), and the irresistible groove of The Body As a Structure.
Never Exhale is not for the faint of heart, and as its name suggests, is often a breathlessly intense, punishing listen, one filled with audible dynamism, sonic interest and gnarled heaviness.
Listen to: God on a Speed Dial, Smells Like Something Died in Here