It’s interesting how most of the ‘alt’ musical subset decided to pool every similar influence they had to make for a domineering all-encompassing sound. Once upon a time, at the tail end of post-hardcore’s ‘00s dominance, even the heavy peddlers started gazing at their shoes and professing that nu-metal wasn’t all that bad, after years of hiding their teenage Kerrang! posters. Hundredth, Being As An Ocean, Ocean Grove, and their more forgettable hodgepodge compatriots set the course of a ‘90s throwback grunge-inspired alt-rock staple that’s still going today. For me, it’s been to the detriment of a once-vibrant scene: a bland blanket neither great for throwback nostalgia, nor promising a future where such bands display all the experimental fun again.
This is a generalisation, of course, as occasionally there are a handful of groups that inject plenty of character to give this ubiquitous form substance, like a chiselled marble statue made out of slate. Touching on this is divedown—Sam Bianco (vocals / guitar), Michael Romeo (guitar), Josh Godwin (bass), and Tim Irwin (drums)—who, while implementing some dream-scape sonics and pop-punk singalongs, instead bet big on their power chord bonanza catharsis. On debut EP Where They May, there’s all the arena-room impact it aims for, with the occasional unexpected twist clearly honed from years in Melbourne’s local alt-rock orbit.
As with previously released Blame Game, the four-piece come out swinging with lashings of amp-crunch, but with that consistent melodic wave running straight through the single’s memorable verse and chorus lines—delivered via Bianco’s well-suited vocal chops (especially given his initial reluctance to take on the duty). The tones are well out of the Will Yip playbook, and his hand in the wispy indie-ness of Turnover to the sardonic punk of Drug Church and Turnstile’s vibrant art-rock. This EP explores more well-constructed tidbits that could well benefit anyone with that 2014 fourth-wave emo nostalgia.
All For What is a layered morsel of acoustic strums, flanged chords, and arpeggiated leads that, once built, never dip back into the most restrained, waltzing first verse. Bianco’s “even though I’ll end up screaming” lead into the main riff is triumphant, and it rarely lets up afterwards. A similar threatening-to-overwhelm mood organically finishes off Picture My Life, which comes complete with some nifty snare / hi-hat work and an out of the blue, yet complementary, solo that takes J Mascis’ philosophy: noodly guitar work can, and should, fit in anywhere.
As a five song introduction, divedown makes sure to employ their dynamic range, with an emotional throughline of Bianco’s feeling unable to simply let go, or to move ahead. There’s plenty of honest dilemma-churning about being held back, or discovering that motivation can be depleting. This comes through on the initially ‘stripped back’ number Bad Way, and even more effectively on closer Towards The Light—steadily ramping up the instrumental intensity to match the powerful lyrical delivery, wanting to find love and grow old despite being “too filled with spite”, hurtling toward a pummeling staccato-y ending. It sounds like every effort in this track was spent, and its fade-out being some much-needed space to take a breather.
There’s an accomplished feel to Where They May that very few debut EPs can quite carry across. But there still lingers a thought that channelling these players’ tight musicianship into a less-diluted style may prove fruitful. Then again, sticking out in the gluttony of this ever-popular sound cannot be a bad place to start steaming further upward, and it’s a very decent beginning for this Melbourne veteran group we’ll surely hear plenty more from.
For fans of: Basement, Hundredth, Citizen
‘Where They May’ by divedown is released on 29th May on Ninth Life Records.
Words by Elliot Burr
