I found Dikembe during my early college years the way students discovers most things in school. Browsing around online while procrastinating on their papers. Yeah, I was that guy. Somehow I graduated with a bachelors though. Maybe I just had it easy. If you’ve read this blog you know I’m not the smartest man but I have many other valuable qualities. Dikembe are much the same. Sure they’re not the most dynamic band out there but I find myself in love with them. There’s something to admire in bands who you see, feel, and most importantly hear give their true selves to us in their art. When you see them perform it’s to easy to synthesize they’re simply real and honest.
Hail Something follows a few years of touring and small releases since Mediumship, an album that did little for me as a fan. It was a bit prettier sounding and didn’t keep my attention for more than one spin. Hail gets back to the Chicago Bowls days. More crunch and feedback along with strong riffs that make songs distinct. “Earth Around Me” possesses a riff to remember. The opening title track gives us those Dikembe hallmarks in a bar room anthem form. “I’m gonna lie to the public’ while trying to find something to your life to honor. I’m not sure what they mean. I can connect with trying to find a purpose in something yet feeling like I’m lying through my teeth when asked if I’m making way. It’s a strong opener and one of my favorites. It’s an album of anxiety. Uncertainty. Depression. Unlike a Black Flag‘s blast of energy and anger or a Blink‘s rush of enthusiastic joy and excitement, Dikembe has harnessed emo into short bursts of grief. “Spring Box” exults this concise internal pain. It’s not innovative. Joyce Manor has been doing something similar but doesn’t channel emo into this brief powerful combustion of anguished energy.
In about 25 minutes Dikembe crush their craft. Hail Something establishes the band’s current place in their career. They’re working independently through Bandcamp’s subscription service to release music on their terms and directly connect with fans. Dikembe made an album that reins in all their best elements into a compact composition. There’s something romantic about a band churning away in a vacuum. They don’t care about being some seminal band like the bands they probably grew up on. Their art is thrown into the infinite void without regard for anything but what satisfies their creativity and fans.
Disaesthetic 