On their stellar debut, “The Great Regression”, Brighton’s five-piece DITZ come out hard and dark. They deliver an intense and sonically invigorating assault on the superficial politeness that masks systemic inequality while exploring the elements of personhood that cast some from the mainstream.
There’s an ominous build to these songs that results in each of them progressively morphing into pummelling, pounding, riffy anthems – an indomitable & incendiary force.
We’ve worshipped at the Ditz altar for a few years (they came together in Brighton in 2015), through their various line-up changes & developments in sound but 2022 finally delivered their debut album…& what a fucking incredible achievement it is!! even those of us who came to this with the highest of expectations have been left awestruck.
Their dynamic, experimental punk is savage, cacophonous & urgent but complex, layered & considered, so every listen will deliver new thrills & previously unprocessed aural assaults whilst also revealing a surprising & obverse melody & warmth.
Abrasive but accessible, their music carries themes of personal identity, particularly within the context of masculinity & femininity & insecurities around gender. ‘the Great Regression’ is full of anger, rage & despair but it also showcases their love of childish jokes, literature…& pedals. many, many pedals contribute to the ever-growing pile of equipment they gathered in order to make unusual sounds during the recording process.
Singer Cal Francis wrote that the track “I Am Kate Moss” is about “the separation between your visual and personal identities, particularly within the context of masculinity and femininity”. This separation of mind and body comes across in the album’s ten tracks, which balance cerebral spoken word and somatic song structures via familiar rock riffs. With cues from Foals and Ireland’s Gilla Band, DITZ place themselves on post-punk’s heavier, metal side. Their riffs are dark and simple, in the vein of Korn or Slipknot, but with artistic sensibilities more in line with Deftones and At the Drive-In.
“A vital reminder that, in order to embrace therapeutic progress, you need to regress. a taut, well-honed package it’s a brutal assault on the senses” – loud & quiet
released September 23rd, 2022
The Fat Angel Sings 