Years in the making, the follow-up or maybe even companion piece to 2015's Positive Energy, Positive Disintegration sees the band with a bit more of a pop zap to the ever present post punk dreariness of modern Berlin life... Or even modern life at large as most of the lyrical content has to do with the monotony of barely getting by or trying to have a meaningful exchange with a remotely interesting person. These things are hard to come by most of the time and this music eats at that very feeling. It's almost enough to make you wanna throw in the towel and move to Spain without a care in the world to haunt your remaining days. You probably won't though, you'll most likely listen to this record while you sip your overpriced room temperature coffee drink whilst ordering new bulbs for your anti depression lamp from a major online retailer. It just feels like life is getting away from you, ya know? Dark. Housed in 24pt reverse board jackets with lyric sheet, poster and download card included.
Our take: This record has been out for a bit, but vinyl has been so scarce that we haven’t had copies in stock long enough for me to write about it. As I’m writing this, the second press has sold out from the label, so this record’s momentum shows no signs of abating. Which makes sense, because this album rules. When I first listened to Positive Disintegration I worried that it wasn’t as good as their previous record, Positive Energy, but if I remember correctly that one was a grower too. While they’re a melodic and pop-oriented band, Diät is sneaky with their hooks. They layer each song with so much rhythmic and melodic complexity it can take a few listens for your ear to make sense, but once it does each track is like a feast, with as much killer, memorable music as most bands spread across an entire album side. I could spend all day highlighting brilliant moments like the intertwining guitar lines on “Foreign Policy” or the electronic gurgling on “W.I.G.T.D.W.M?” because the album is chock full of them. I also want to point out the track “Missed the Bus,” which finds guitarist Josh Neutron sharing vocal duties. If you liked Josh’s Itchy Bugger LP that came out last year you’ll be all over “Missed the Bus.” I can’t praise this record enough. Certainly it's one of the best of 2019 so far.