Review Summary: Divorce come out of the gate with a hell of a debut that makes them not only a band to watch, but a force to be reckoned with.
Divorce’s
Drive to Goldenhammer is a shockingly realized debut that harkens back to the days when maximalist “indies” like Arcade Fire or The Decemberists rattled off excellence with athletic ease. The elevator pitch here is alt-country by way of garage rock -a description that does scan as a bit rote at this point- but the group’s secret sauce is their willingness to experiment and sprint ahead with such a palpable sense of joy. Opener “Antarctica” quickly wins over any curious ears with a delicate, yet adventurous melody accompanied by gorgeous vocal exchanges between bassist Tiger Cohen-Towell and Felix Mackenzie-Barrow that are emblematic throughout. “Fever Pitch” kicks off the album’s best stretch by matching deliriously woozy verses that nearly call doo wop to mind before kicking down the doors with its triumphantly rock choruses. “Karen” turns down the lights for a haunting folk ballad before launching into a surprisingly vicious climax, with far more teeth than you’d expect, before “Jet Show” brings us back to earth with one of the catchiest earworms on the whole record.
That’s an important distinction, as songs like “Parachutes” and the later-half of the epic “Pills” pull diligently from the Belle and Sebastian school of having cutesy passages rattle around in your skull like a bouncy ball. The production here is squeaky clean, letting the varied, lush instrumentation breathe, sounding impossibly bigger than the band’s four members should. “All My Freaks” may take this concept a little
too far, as it sounds more like The Naked and Famous’ early, all-encompassing singles with just a twinge of country, but it’s thankfully a rather obvious outlier. The rest of
Goldenhammer navigates its interplay of soundscapes perfect for staring off at the scenes on a long drive with the rush of sticking your hand out the window with far more tact-”Where Do You Go” could have easily leaned into its Arctic Monkeys inspiration, and it would have been all the worse for it.
Divorce have described themselves as “Wilco meets Abba,” and from the amount of namedrops here, it’s clear that they have no problem with wearing their inspirations on their sleeve. That’s fine. They are a young band still figuring things out.
Drive to Goldenhammer is a smashing success because it never lets these inspirations get in the way of actually feeling inspired. With a lot of bands, a debut can often feel like watching a weathervane settle in a direction; but with Divorce, it feels like they could go anywhere they want to go.
