Diving is a 4-piece Austin band that plays chilled-out math rock. Compared to the current superstars of the math rock genre, Diving is less avant garde/experimental than Battles but less poppy than Minus the Bear. The band’s complex rhythms and quick time changes show off their musical prowess but their songs don’t come off as overly self-indulgent. The main sonic elements in their tunes are clean reverbed guitar lines and intricate drum parts. There is a good amount of finger tapping but I’m not talking about the Eddie Van Halen type of finger tapping. The vocals are not really the focus in their songs and sometimes vocals are even left out of the mix. But for the songs with vocals I was definitely impressed by the lyrics. Each song’s lyrics form a short poem. Below is the song “Simply Named Tron” and its lyrics.
“these small things can change your life
fit in your hand
fill in the cracks
i like it but it doesn’t feel alright
my clock it owns me but i can’t put up a fight
take it or leave it
it won’t help you feel alright
this is the part where we climb up the incline”
Diving will be playing at the Mohawk on Saturday 7/2 along with a stacked lineup of Tape Deck Mountain, The Artificial Heart and Pswingset. I encourage you to check it out. Also, Diving put out a 6 track album Places and the Objects You Find There last December that is available for download at their Bandcamp Page. On Places and the Objects You Find There, Diving put together a great collection of songs that are cerebral yet accessible.
-Dan