DIIV’s Zachary Cole Smith Rolls On

July 28, 2014 8:58 AM

Smith doesn’t really have an hour to spare tonight. He and his bandmates are scrambling through what might be their only rehearsal for their first US headlining tour, which launches later this week. The goal is to road-test new material for the follow-up to DIIV’s 2012 debut album, Oshin, an underground breakout hit that marked them as one of indie rock’s most promising bands on the rise. Tomorrow he has to take care of countless logistical matters for the tour such as picking up borrowed gear and buying a van, which would be stressful enough for a random Tuesday. But tomorrow is also the 22nd birthday of Smith’s girlfriend, the model and acclaimed pop singer Sky Ferreira, and he needs to make it special after spending much of her 21st birthday stressing out about an impending European tour. “Last year I blew it,” Smith says. “She was so upset.” On top of all that, he’s also supposed to meet with his probation officer upstate, one of many unpleasant consequences of being arrested for heroin possession and other crimes last September in upstate Saugerties, New York.
posted by josher71 (11 comments total)

The poor guy!
posted by thelonius at 9:59 AM on July 28, 2014

how precious.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 10:47 AM on July 28, 2014 [1 favorite]

That was an interesting little look into his (and her) life. Thanks.

I've always been a little meh on DIIV because the record sort of just sounds like if the Strokes made an instrumental album, but it definitely has its moments. Sky's first record though I loved loved loved.
posted by Lutoslawski at 11:02 AM on July 28, 2014 [2 favorites]

I like the music but i fail to understand what's so interesting about the life/lives described in the article.
posted by destructive cactus at 12:22 PM on July 28, 2014

I've heard the name DIIV a few times but as far as I know this is my first time listening to him/them. There's a huge disconnect between how the music is described in the article, and what it sounds like to me.

widely praised for its brisk yet impressionistic blend of krautrock, post-punk, grunge, and psych

takes the soaring guitar interplay of Smith’s old group into edgier, darker, more scorching terrain

shimmering, propulsive post-punk tracks

energetic rock band

I didn't hear any of that in the four or five songs I sampled. It all sounded like plodding low-fi retro-jangly indie pop to me, just kind of drifting onwards without any purpose. At one point he himself does describe it as background music, which is probably the most accurate description in there imo.

Maybe I just picked the wrong songs? I really am in the mood for some good psychedelic grungy krautrock.
posted by mannequito at 2:04 PM on July 28, 2014 [1 favorite]

I really like the single. But I don't know if it's any of those things it is described as.
posted by josher71 at 3:04 PM on July 28, 2014

Agreed, mannequito. This is one of those bands that makes me wonder whether I'm listening to something completely different than everyone else. It's happening more and more lately. See also: Real Estate, Mac Demarco. Sleepy background jangle pop, all of it...
posted by naju at 4:39 PM on July 28, 2014

I saw them Saturday night and they made zero impression, but it didn't help that the sound mix was uncharacteristically bad for the venue and I was a little teeny tiny bit completely shitfaced on two hours' worth of free alcohol at that point.
posted by Merzbau at 4:43 PM on July 28, 2014

The Sky Ferreira album is better than it has any right to be. Quite possibly one of the most subversive albums...the sheeny production and catchy melodies wouldn't sound out of place on a Selena Gomez album, but while the music seduces you, the lyrics punch you in the gut. If the epigram for Night Time, My Time is "I blame myself for my reputation", I hope the one for the next album is "I have survived my past".
posted by pxe2000 at 5:28 PM on July 28, 2014 [3 favorites]

whoa, dime-a-dozen.
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 7:12 PM on July 28, 2014

I guess those who cannot remember the 80's are doomed to repeat them. Fair enough, I mean, they're obviousy very young. Just... shhh... nobody tell them that nobody cares.

Well maybe they do but I don't hear why- I feel like I read (ok skimmed) some huge profile of an Important Artist with all the details of their lives and 22-year-old girlfriends and drug busts only to find out the band in question was, I dunno, Herman's Hermits (or substitute your favorite 4AD band that's so obscure I've never heard of 'em.)

I did like the part where he was asking for a letter from Stereogum- on their official letterhead!- so his probation officer would know how important this stuff is. (And I'm not saying it's not! I'm just making fun of it because it seems vapid and derivative.)
posted by hap_hazard at 9:19 PM on July 28, 2014 [1 favorite]