High Dive – Self titled

When I first heard High Dive, I was pleasantly surprised. With no expectations or anticipations (only the No Idea Records logo being any indication that this will be up my alley), High Dive kicked off with the sparse A Reason and I was hooked.

With a low-fi folk punk sound akin to Defiance, Ohio (who, I later found out, share members with High Dive), the bare bones structure focused the ear towards the unique vocal delivery. Like The Wildmeeting Direct Hit!, High Dive was a folk-punk/pop-punk hybrid with an extremely unique tone that had been absence from the CD player over the last year.

It stumbled a bit with Hi, How Are You? But picked up the pace soon after with Tennessee and Clean, two songs that just stand out in so many ways. Tennessee, the highlight of the album, has a fantasticBilly Bragg meets Defiance, Ohio style and a queer punk lyrical topic that is powerful, memorable and inspirational. Clean follows up with a fuller sound and nostalgia-soaked sensibility that looks towards the future while reliving the past failures.

It continues forward, with Restless and Thank You rounding the album off with two more highlights. Folk-punk with wavering vocals and lyrics that has you singing along in no time – High Dive are the perfect band for the side-stage of The Fest. They won’t leave you with a bang and a year from now I may forget some of these songs; but when the album is in your CD player, you won’t want to listen to anything else.