DI – On The Western Front

D.I. are a band you may or may not have heard of. Chances are high that you’ve heard them before simply because they’ve been going for well over two decades now; but at the same time the Orange County punk band has always maintained a relatively low profile thus the band may not have come up on your radar. The fact that On The Western Front is the band’s first release in thirteen years does little to deter from that fact. However, no matter whether you know them or not, one listen to On The Western Front and it’s quite clear that the band knows what they’re doing.

Kicking off with the title track, images of Pennywise instantly come into mind. Everything is there: the skate punk guitars, the catchy backgrounds vocals and the Jim Lindberg vocal resemblance is undeniable. The more you listen to it, the more it seems like it could be a slightly poppier version of Pennywise but there’s something else that is there that’s floating around and itching to break out. It soon comes clear that a very D.I. has a had a seminal influence on fellow OC punk act Guttermouth as many of the songs see that sarcastic, nasally punk rock sound to it. The vocals soon start to sound similar to Mark Adkins too, particularly the spoken word parts on OC’s Burning and Voices; throw in the the Musical Monkey esque songs like Skate Or Die and Fasto Nero and it becomes even clearer that Guttermouth fans will love the record.

Really, that’s the best way to describe the release: an album for fans of Guttermouth, Pennywise and the whole mid-nineties skate punk sound (or, one could argue, the OC punk rock sound). There’s very little to it that is unique or truly life changing – nor is it very memorable – however, On The Western Front is a solid punk rock effort. It’s great punk rock anthems with simple chorus that get stuck in your head within the first listen. There’s definite energy and angst threaded throughout the release and songs like Gutters Of Paradise and Punk Rock Suicide grab the listener’s ears instantly. It is a punk rock record through and through, proving that punk is still alive and kicking.