Review: DITZ - Never Exhale

The Brighton-based band was formed in 2016 and, despite the consistency, growth, and recognition gained after their European tour with IDLES (still promoting their debut album The Great Regression), it remains curious that, even after carving out their own space within the more alternative post-punk scene, the band has yet to explode on the level they deserve.

Never Exhale is the title chosen by the quintet for their second (sophomore) album, an idea that immediately resonated with the band due to a lifestyle filled with non-stop touring since the release of their debut (totalling nearly a hundred shows per year!), making DITZ one of the hardest-working bands today. The creative process took place in an atmosphere completely opposite to that of the first album, which was written in pandemic isolation. This time around, the record was written and conceived on the road (is “V70”, the opening track, a direct reference to the Volvo V70?) and in rehearsal rooms where, almost literally, there was neither space — nor time — to breathe.

In search of a different sound that wouldn’t break with their roots or disrupt the band’s own identity, DITZ deliver an intense body of work, an act of consolidation of their quality, progressively tested throughout their frenetic schedule. Never Exhale brings us 10 tracks that combine an already familiar dark atmosphere with a heavy, angry boldness driven by guitars that don’t always sound like guitars, but rather like synthesizers or percussive support — industrial influences that recall the musical creativity of Gilla Band. For the band, Taxi Man is the definitive track on the album. It represents the collaborative spirit of the songwriting period and effectively captures what it means to live life on the road, at a time when the group’s exhaustion was oozing into the creative process. Two days were enough to sculpt Taxi Man. In a moment of inspiration, guitarist Jack Looker came up with the catchy riff, later complemented by Calen’s bass contribution, while a poem written by Cal Francis during a taxi ride provides the song’s skeletal framework.

One of the shortest songs on the album is Space/Smile, where the vocalist asserts his craft dominantly over dirty bass lines that erupt through the guitar feedback of Anton and Jack. In a completely different atmosphere we find Señor Siniestro, my personal favourite. The opening verse — “I feel like death, I wonder if he feels like me too” — darkens the listening room even further, elevating us into a positively claustrophobic experience that culminates in ecstasy with the first dive into the chorus. The following track, Four, is much more direct, inviting us into a more danceable moment, but don’t be fooled by the more accessible rhythmic approach. Beneath it, C. A. Francis exposes the corporate appropriation of queer identity and vents just how uncomfortable and frustrating that is. The record keeps spinning and the heavy hitters keep coming… If God on a Speed Dial maintains that unrestrained spirit, Smells Like Something Died in Here and the first third of 18 Wheeler allow us to slow down a little and feel the frequencies from a different stance. The latter has the particularity of having been written in an old Philips factory, where televisions or washing machines were once built — the strangest place the band has ever composed. Before the closing stretch we also have The Body Is a Structure, which I consider the track most suited for radio airplay, even if not on just any station. britney closes the album with a 7-minute (and 27-second) journey, built on a cold structure that constructs itself only to deconstruct and rebuild again, in a crescendo of textures that intensify, distort, and unravel into a tangle of feedback and noise.

Contradicting the album’s title, we can confirm that DITZ are very much alive and breathing just fine. I can’t point to a single track that feels unnecessary or out of place in the tracklist. Never Exhale is loud, heavy, dark, packed with quality, and a step forward in the process of establishing the British quintet’s credibility.

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Album Highlights:
Senor Siniestro
Four
britney