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They say that nowadays, people mostly make music as solo artists, as it’s cheaper and more artistically freeing. However, Diiv are a sign that maybe those acts can start out as solo projects, and then develop into great rock bands later. Frontman Zachary Cole Smith began Diiv as Dive, a name for his solo recordings that he put on Soundcloud.
Soon after he started, his songs started to pick up some recognition. So he put the word out among his friends on New York City’s indie scene, put a live band together and started performing, which got them signed to the label Captured Tracks in early 2012.
It was around this time that Smith changed “Dive” to “DIIV” (pronounced in the exact same way) out of respect for a 1990’s Belgian industrial band of the same name.
By June, their debut album was released. “Oshin” was an instant hit that made a name for themselves on both sides of the Atlantic, playing London’s Alexandra Palace with The Vaccines and doing a tour of their East Coast home turf supporting Japandroids.
The album ended up on the year end lists for Pitchfork, NME and Stereogum among many others and has made the expectation for their second effort sky high.
Of course, this expectation isn’t a problem for Smith; He’ll do what comes naturally to him and only what comes naturally to him. He’s an artist with the world at his feet, and what comes next is an exciting prospect indeed. One to watch like a hawk.
Japandroids and DIIV at Black Cat, Dec 7, 2012
I thought it was really VERY good, honest, but it wasn't my favorite show of the year. The opener DIIV (pronounced "dive") was a jammy, guitar-driven, mostly instrumental band that performed very well, but their music is not my thing. Japandriods were powerhouse performers. Their set was at least an hour and a half long, with fast songs almost the entire time. It's two guys, but they sound a hell of a lot bigger than two guys. The singer engaged the audience well, they had tons of energy, and they were very fun. Their current album "Celebration Rock" is super high energy, and the crowd sang along to most of the songs. There was a lot of dancing, some moshing, even a little crowd surfing. It was a really fun atmosphere. I absolutely recommend this band for a really good rock show. They deliver. The only thing I found un-amazing about the show was the singer's voice. Vocals are what sell it for me. This singer has been touring non-stop for months, belting it out hard every night for a couple hours. His voice has taken a beating and he wasn't singing his best. He made up for it in other ways, but the vocals would have had to have been stronger for me to declare this my show of the year.