Three years can be the length of a career in the music industry. So when a band takes that long to release their second album, it raises a number of questions, not all of which are positive. This is particularly so when a hyped-up (albeit well-founded) debut release left you wondering what might come next. Diet Cig answer some of those concerns with another question: Do You Wonder About Me?
The adrenaline-steeped interplay between acrobatic singer-guitarist Alex Luciano and drummer Noah Bowman made Diet Cig one of the most exciting live acts I’ve seen. Formed in State University New York, New Paltz, in 2014, their rough edges and punk energy was amplified in the small, heaving venues (and house shows) they often played. Somehow they transferred that stage presence brilliantly to bigger shows later on, bouncing (literally) off the walls, speaker stacks and security details in the front row. Debut, Swear I’m Good At This evolved gradually over time, songs were tweaked and riffed on, co-created with an ever-growing audience. By the time of its 2017 release, Diet Cig, adorned in jeans shorts and oversized shirts, seemed to ooze the essence long, hot summer holidays, full of limitless, youthful hopes and self-discovery.
A carefree summer break is nevertheless meaningless without the hard reality of the autumn. Breaking free of the ‘college rock’ label couldn’t have been easy for Diet Cig, given that they had embraced everything about its aesthetic. Also, the source of their magic and what made them stand out in that punk pop crowd, their sheer positivity and inspiring self-determination, must have been draining to maintain in an increasingly cynical political climate. Unsurprisingly, then Do You Wonder About Me? is more polished and meticulous, its enthusiasm subdued, or rather kept in check, by frequent introspective musing. This may be the sound of a band maturing and re-examining their ambitions, but it’s also confusing and sometimes feels like they’re exposing some of their hanging doubts about what it all really means to be an indie musician in 2020. Tellingly, on opener ‘Thriving’, Luciano sings “I play the same songs over and over, convince myself I’m grown, I’m older” her mental exhaustion giving way to gritted smiles of self-assurance, only half-believed.
The backbone of Do You Wonder About Me? is unarguably the ringing distortion of Luciano’s Telecaster blasts and while the album revolves around its loud guitar moments, like the power-chord roller-coaster ‘Broken Body’ with its exultant Wilson Phillips-like chorus, or ‘Flash Flood’, a rattling throwback to the frantic punk of Diet Cig’s first EP, they also experiment with other textures and moods. ‘Staring Into The Sun’ for example, subtly pitches burbling synth arpeggios and smooth organ pads against Luciano’s citric treble tones, while elsewhere on ‘Worth The Wait’ there’s more overt, atmospheric electronica goings-on. Quieter, interesting interstitial tracks like ‘Priority Mail’ and ‘Makeout (interlude)’ seem like fillers on an album that is barely 25 minutes. It is a shame that they are under-developed and left in the shade of the towering single material on this album, as they could have added greatly to a story here which doesn’t really have time to unfold.
We return again and again to the questions Diet Cig asks on Do You Wonder About Me? each time more uncertain than before. We’re offered clues in tracks like ‘Night Terrors’ which Luciano says “represents the fact that no matter how hard I try to curate a specific and perfect version of myself, the embarrassing, weird, unlikable parts are always going to be there too”. The song’s significance isn’t obvious and while its reprise at the album’s end doesn’t add much, it does highlight the multiple conversations Luciano has here, both with herself and others. This cycle of critical self-examination is a process in which we can all eventually find ourselves, carefully taking down and replacing a house of cards, one by one, distracted by ideas of perfection, with no real idea of what it is we want to build. Despite its glorious highlights, that lingering sense is what Do You Wonder About Me? leaves me with.
‘Do You Wonder About Me’ is out now, on Frenchkiss Records.
Photo: Emily Dublin
