I’m not even going to bother going into the “supergroup” thing (oops) and instead recognize that Divine Fits is a well-balanced band comprised of dudes that have their own successful projects, and who combined the best aspects into something of its very own entity. Comprised of Britt Daniel from Spoon, Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade and Handsome Furs, and New Bomb Turks’ Sam Brown, with some keyboard skills from Alex Fischel; together make dark, sexy, and intelligent electronic rock songs on their debut album, A Thing Called Divine Fits. The whole album is currently streaming over at NPR until its official release on August 28,
By the best aspects, mostly I mean the electro synth and beats sensibilities of Handsome Furs with Dan Boeckner’s raw panic attacks combined with Britt Daniel’s clever, slightly eccentric lyrics and polished as hell pop hooks. When BestNewBands.com’s Katrina Nattress saw them live at Bootleg Theater, she noted, “It was clear these guys weren’t doing this for the paycheck, but rather for the fun and excitement of a new project.” That energy comes across to an extent in this LP as well. Divine Fits certainly draw from their existing musical backgrounds as a natural extension, and enjoy the advantage of finding it easy to instantly sound polished and seasoned together.
On opener “My Love Is Real” it’s easy to hear straight away the combination of established minds, with the frankly concise lyrics of “My love is real / Until it stops” sung by Boeckner. He and Daniels balance each other well on this record, with each track sounding like they both shared equal duties. While Boeckner takes the lead on vocals in “My Love is Real” and dominates the frantic acoustic “Civilian Stripes,” Daniels comes out strong on easy-going track “Would That Not Be Nice,” and really takes center stage on their cover of “Shivers” by The Boys Next Door, which Divine Fits turns into a real chord-strikingly raw jam with a totally entrancing guitar solo. Plus, the two harmonize flawlessly on verses in The Salton Sea, a track with great old school 80s synth/percussion with the warbling of an old worn out cassette tape right before it just totally craps out. “Like Ice Cream” is less clever, and feels more like silly filler. Albeit, silly fun filler.
As a whole, A Thing Called Divine Fits is full of sharp-tongued wit. Divine Fits never say too much, only just enough to get the message across. Then, the well-constructed music arrangement around it fills in the mood, and then some.
Image by Pamela Littky
Divine Fits have a nice little run of gigs in support of this album, including Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg on September 9th. Full dates here.
