EP REVIEW/RISING ARTIST: Happy Diving- s/t

2013 was a year light on newcomers, especially in rock. In fact, last year was a very rock-light year. Which, is kind of understandable. 2012 gave us tons of heavier and nastier records (Swans, Cloud Nothings, Titus Andronicus). So it’s wonderful to see some newcomers already in 2014, and one of those newcomers is the San Francisco lo-fi sludge punk outfit Happy Diving.

s/t is a short EP, just about 10 and a half minutes long. But man, these guys leave quite the impression in that time. The songs really bring the sludge to the forefront, but in a way that harkens back to lo-fi bands of the 90s. It’s almost like Dinosaur Jr. back in their prime, but even nastier. Songs like Sincere are just trudges through a great pile of noise and nastiness, but man is it enjoyable. There are more upbeat songs like Complacent that still manage to bring the grimy sounds out, but with a bit more energy.  Matt Berry’s vocals have personality but they never really overthrow the rest of the sound. The drums and guitars all seem to make up the same entity, creating this gnarly smoothie concoction of fuzz. It’s been done before, but the songs haven’t been this good.

After listening to a lot of 90s bands in the past month (January just puts me in a Dinosaur Jr./Pinkerton-Weezer mood), this EP hits just the right spot. Especially the prime cut here, the closer Never Been. It has some fantastic guitar work, some stellar drums, cutesy-yet-pitchy backing vocals, and some great disinterested vocals from Berry. It’s a fantastic sound that perfectly emulates the pop-punk of the 90s, and stands on its own as a great song. Very few EPs can leave an impression this great, especially one from newcomers like these guys. Hopefully an album will come soon enough.

Summary: s/t is a sludgey joyride, with some great guitar work and a sound that’s incredibly engrossing. Plus, the fact it’s 10 minute longs helps the replay-value quite a bit.

Choice Cuts: Never Been, Sincere

Sounds Like: Dinosaur Jr., A dirtier Pavement, A more punk-pop Sludge band.

A-

You can stream the entire EP below, as well as download it over at Bandcamp. They have limited edition cassettes out next month on Father Daughter records.