Review of Dive Dive's CD "Good Show"

Dive Dive: Good Show

There was a time, albeit brief, when I lived the Oxford music scene, kicked around venues such as Zodiac and claimed bands such as Dustball to be my fave. So as a pleasant surprise the post brings me a single by Dive Dive, aka Dustball from their earlier incarnation and reformed in 2000 after a hiatus caused by the quest for further education. Add to the line-up ex-Unbelievable Truth drummer Nigel Powell, and you have an explosive proposition that the mainstream press took to calling "the best new band of the year" following their 2003 release of "Good Show" (Idle Records). Although given the band have been doing the rounds now for nine years, breaks aside, it shows the positive impression a simple name change can have on press people, as some Leeds folk know oh so well.

This CD is actually a re-release of the aforementioned 2003 single, but now on the Diablo Records label, and the first single from a forthcoming album. The B-side this time around is a live Peel recording of a '97 Shifty Disco recording by the name of "Señor Nachos", a single I do have somewhere in a now dusty record collection; a tidy up may be in order in case other hidden gems can be uncovered. It's a fizzing cage-rattling spazz of an anthem about male pregnancy, one to pogo to as you'd probably expected, with a cool guitar riff and simple chord repetition.

Whereas the B-side shows a youthful punkpop exuberance in intent, delivery and end-product, "Good Show" shows a more cultured, structured backbone to the songwriting, venturing more towards angular guitars and a general melodic hardcore feel. It has that quiet/loud mix, and some fantastic variance in the vocals that to be fair, don't sound like the same band but suit the song's style in a really ace way. The close feels somewhat retrospective as the repetition of the chorus line "it was a good show" slowly fades out of the mix...

• www.divedive.co.uk

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