Given the sum of their parts, Divine Fits have some big expectations to fill with debut album A Thing Called Divine Fits,. Comprised of Spoon frontman Britt Daniel, Dan Boeckner (Handsome Furs and Wolf Parade) and Sam Brown from New Bomb Turks, the band members’ pedigrees precede them. But does the album live up to the hype? The short answer is yes, very much so. A Thing Called Divine Fits, is aptly named in the sense that it does not sound highly derivative of its members past efforts, but instead the newly formed band do their own ‘thing’, creating a fresh and unique sonic experience. The result is one of the most engaging and exciting albums of the year.
The album is consistently interesting and varied in its style, musical arrangements and production. The driving drum beat, crisp percussion and rhythmic prowess of ‘Flaggin’ A Ride’ stands out as especially stunning. Elsewhere the band make creative use of synths and emotive reverberation to produce a kind of dark dance-inflected vibe on tracks such as the fabulously catchy opener ‘My Love Is Real’ and the pop tour de force ‘Baby Gets Worse,’ which are both destined to become classics. Meanwhile the ironic hipness of ‘Shivers’ (‘I’ve been contemplating suicide/But it really doesn’t suit my style/So I guess I’ll just act bored instead’) appeals to an indie rock self-deprecating sensibility, which the band masters with ease and charm. Simpler and driven primarily by voice and guitar, ‘Civilian Stripes’ is equally impressive, showing that the band is, unsurprisingly given its members, more than capable of churning out a gentle pop masterpiece. A Thing Called Divine Fits, never flails or sags, but rather maintains a sense of constant invention and ambition across its lean eleven tracks, effortlessly holding the listener’s attention. There are no weak or superfluous songs; instead each track packs an impressive musical punch.
There is always a danger with so-called ‘supergroups’ that they will either fail to reach the standard of the bands from which the members are sourced or that the extraordinary creativity of the individual members will prove too much for one band, thus producing work that carries with it the evidence of creative differences. However, neither of these problems applies to Divine Fits. Given the skill and talent evidenced by A Thing Called Divine Fits, one cannot help but be excited about the prospect of seeing the band interact together live on stage at Laneway next year. Like their album, Divine Fits are well-named: music this good can only be described as divine.
