Jaysus it's been so long since I reviewed a record that it's taken me the best part of an hour to remember how this thing even works. But here I am, back again, after over a year's absence with me trousers down around me ankles as I shake my fist vigorously at the screen whilst taking in the aural delights of the sexy new EP from The Diggerz. Now a quartet with the addition of a second guitarist, Mo tells me their sound is fatter. I heard him wrong at first and thought he was body shaming me again! He wasn't complaining when he was eating the almonds from betwixt my moobs though. The dirty fecker! But anyway, enough teats and nuts related jovial japes. He tells me their new album is at the pressing plant with a planned release date for June 10th this year. Now then, this new release sees a departure from their 2015 album A Psycho's Tale on Crazy Love Records. Fuck me, 7 years ago! Did you see me adding links there? The things I do for you ungrateful shower of shites. It's not a departure as-in, fuck me, they're shite now. Au contraire! The psychobilly sound and non-run of the mill melodies are still there but the sound is more powerful, more rock'n'roll if you will. It's a fuller figured Diggerz. A BBW of rockin' beats! Psychobilly with curves! Our Mo can sing and shies away from hiding behind the usual sore throat fare employed by the legion of DAG knock-offs. The backing vocals are on point too which adds to the sonic diversity of this EP. The musicality is pristine which makes me think I should just sell all my instruments and stick to what I'm good at - never being as good as these boys. The highlight for me is their version of Drunken Sailor. A stomping rendition which unexpectedly turns dark towards the end before a bit of ska is unleashed and then kicks us up the arse again before the finale. You can get your greasy digits on the EP from Sick Taste Records. It's a limited edition of 200 so stop looking at Pornhub and buy it. No wonder your digits are greasy!
Hailing from Essen in Germany, this is The Diggerz début release (even though they've been together for 5 years, the lazy bastards) on everyone's favourite record label Crazy Love. Without even listening to the music I immediately tipped my hat to them for the their usage of the correct punctuation in the word "Psycho's" in the album title. Yes, I am that anal (ooooh matron) when it comes to grammar. So, having been filled with glee and merriment from the offset, I proceeded to place my sextastic headphones over my manly ears and have an aural perusal of the sounds emanating from betwixt....oh for fuck sake..I don't half talk shite. I put on me headphones and had a listen to the album, right? What immediately struck me (well, after I completely ignored the intro) was the crisp, clean production that I love. Many albums have good songs but shite production. This has good songs coupled with erm....anti-shite production! That's right. It's the ANTI-SHITE! My favourite instrument of all time, the slap bass is right up there in the mix, the guitar sound is clean with bits of twang and reverb where necessary and not overdone. The drums are snappy and crunchy. Great so far. Will the vocalist piss on the whole thing? No. No he won't. HOORAH! I hear traces of Pitmen vocal stylings in his voice. Before I go on, I'm not going to start making comparisons but I'll make one more. Vocally the band are Pitmen-esque and muscially, Gorilla-esque (but cleaner sounding). Now, back to The Diggerz sound itself and leaving aside possible influences and getting back to these vocals, fuck me what vocal range. Mo is one of thee best singers the psychobilly genre has to offer. The backing vocals are spot on too! When paired on some tracks it's almost like listening to Joy Division with quiffs. Also, you can't second-guess where each song is going. Unique melodies abound. The hardest thing to do now is pick a single track to stick up on YouTube for you to sample the greatness of this album.
