Die! Die! Die! - SWIM

SWIM, the fifth D!D!D! LP, is a seething, howling set of hooky, snotty punk songs about, according to singer Andrew Wilson, “surviving”. The opening title track sets the tone for the rest of the record – frantic guitars and speed-freak drums cascading over sneering vocals. More often than not, this formula works, thanks to Wilson’s way with melody. “Out of Mind” is the album’s highlight, stuffed with sparkling hooks that would fit snugly into songs of several genres, such is the quality of the songwriting. “Crystal” is a slower variation on the same theme; the change of pace pushes D!D!D!’s post-punk tendencies to the forefront, echoing the likes of Interpol and Echo and the Bunnymen.

Unfortunately, the momentum established by these first tracks is not sustained throughout the LP. After a while of much the same thing, the combination of spiky guitar work and sneering vocals begins to sound aimless. The fine line between low quality pop-punk and high quality poppy punk is one that Die! Die! Die! frequently tread, and a little too often SWIM finds itself closer in sound to the likes of Sum 41 than The Ramones. Single “Get Hit” is the point at which this starts to become the case, and it just about saves itself by virtue of some nifty work from the rhythm section. By the time we reach “She’s Clear”, the band have gone full-on late-90s teen rock, and, frankly, it’s grating stuff.

It’s a shame, because some of the ideas on SWIM’s first few tracks are genuinely interesting, and strike the balance between accessible melody and aggressive instrumentation very well indeed. There’s a decent indie-pop album under there somewhere, jostling for position with a similarly competent punk record; Die! Die! Die! just need to work out how to combine these styles successfully over a full LP, rather than on the odd track here and there.