DIIV on Surviving Capitalism, Being Shoegaze Elders, and Frog in Boiling Water

From its title alone, DIIV’s fourth album suggested a political lean. Frog in Boiling Water references the allegory: While a frog would immediately extricate itself from a pot of boiling water, it would be easily lulled into complacency within an increasingly warm bath.

Indeed, the Brooklyn-launched indie band addresses our own sweltering world – and ponders the best ways to cope with it – on the LP, released May 24 via Fantasy Records. Within a murky layer of guitars, breakbeats, and tape loops, singer/guitarist Zachary Cole Smith laments book burners, army ops, and “rotating villains [who] profit off suffering.” He seems defeated, repeating on opener “In Amber,” “I want to disappear.”

Yet DIIV isn’t defeated, or even despairing. Though Frog, like 2019’s Deceiver, steps away from breezy 2010s indie staples Oshin and Is the Is Are in favor of heavier, darker shoegaze, the band mines beauty within its dreary soundscapes. Smith and Andrew Bailey’s guitars swell into sonic bliss on lead single “Brown Paper Bag,” while emotional centerpiece “Everyone Out” centers haunting harmonic notes and audible acoustic strums.

“Something we’ve talked about a bunch is the idea of hope, or figuring out how to exist in a collapsing society. And you still have to have fun in your life,” drummer Ben Newman says. Take the promotional materials for the album, which include deepfakes of the band members and a conspiracy theory-parodying website named after Frog highlight “Soul-net.” According to Smith, “poking fun at institutions and punching up as much as we can” allowed the quartet to have a good time while doing the “unpaid labor” of album promotion.

Initially, Smith, Bailey, Newman, and bassist Colin Caulfield wanted to avoid discussing politics altogether. They worried offering specific solutions would render them “preachy,” but didn’t want to throw up their hands in a detached, “the world’s fucked” approach, either.

“It’s a difficult line to walk,” Smith says. “It’s more just about providing context for the emotional experience we’re having.”

“Political albums that rub us the wrong way are talking about specific politics and policy,” Caulfield adds. “It’s more about existing within the political system and economic system, which is inescapable for everyone ... It’s more just about being trapped.”

After watching Depeche Mode command arenas every night as openers on the alternative veterans’ fall 2023 tour, DIIV prepared their most grandiose live show to date for this summer’s run. “It taught us a lot about what a headline show looks like and how to fill a room and create an environment,” Smith recalls of the tour, noting the band’s use of lighting and visuals.

The quartet taps a slew of next-generation guitar greats for their own support. June 21’s stop at Emo’s features a Smith favorite, Philly noise-pop group They Are Gutting a Body of Water, while Sasami, Glixen, and Horse Jumper of Love are among the acts opening other dates.

Though there’s a certain strangeness associated with being shoegaze elders – “'I loved you guys in middle school!’” Smith jokes, to shudders from Caulfield – the band enjoys touring with younger acts.

“I think it’d be more difficult or bittersweet if we were tapped out and weren’t still making stuff that we were excited about,” Caulfield says. “We’re as good of a band now as we are because of the time we put into it. So feeling old is just a part of it. But it’s not something that you regret, because you don’t get to where we are without doing the work.”

The world is fucked, yes. But as DIIV sets out to tour it, Caulfield says, “It’s all positive.”

DIIV with They Are Gutting a Body of Water, untitled (halo)

Friday 21, Emo’s

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