If you weren’t already sorely missing energetic, sweaty concerts and singing along at the top of your lungs with friends and strangers, then I Am The Avalanche’s new album DIVE is certainly going to make you nostalgic for a day when being in a crowded room with a ton of maskless people didn’t give you anxiety. From the very first note of the album’s explosive opening track to the very last crescendo of the closer, DIVE hits hard and fast, making it clear that the punk scene has been sorely missing I Am The Avalanche since the 2014 release of their album, Wolverines.
Although recording on DIVE was wrapped before COVID-19 fully impacted the music industry stateside, songs like “Better Days,” which literally asks, “shall we drink to better days?” and title track, “Dive” which reminds listeners, “we suffer together / no one’s alone” seem to have arrived just when we need to hear them. Meanwhile, the sing-along worthy “You’re No Good To Me Dead” will make you wish you long for a hot, sweaty sold-out venue, climbing over the crowd to sing along with vocalist Vinnie Caruana.
The album hits you like a punch to the gut and delivers with relentless after relentless track, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not without diversity. “Fake Weed” is the first reprieve that listeners will receive on the album, following the first three energetic tracks, but easily one of the strongest standouts is the ballad, “Love Song 69,” which slows things down as Caruana croons, “the only easy part is loving you.”
DIVE has many strengths, from the personal, poetic lyricism and the high energy, punishing pace of each song, to the sense of nostalgia that it evokes, but easily one of the strongest aspects of the album is its timelessness. Songs like the aggressive “Concrete” or the massive, emotional closer, “The Morning” don’t feel six years removed from Wolverines. Instead, this album feels like a direct continuation of the band’s previous work, and that’s not to say that they haven’t grown or evolved in the years between their 2014 release and now. Instead, it serves as an impressive reminder of just how fucking solid this band is. Somehow, they manage to not only pick up right where they left off, but also make it sound fresh and exciting for long-time listeners who have been eagerly awaiting new music.
LISTEN TO: “You’re No Good To Me Dead” and “Love Song 69”
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