Welcome back to Crate Digging, our recurring feature that dives into music history and turns up several albums that all music fans should know. In this edition, DIIV test each other with a list of 13 albums they think their fellow band members would probably hate.
DIIV are well-versed in playful tension. It’s a major feature of Frog in Boiling Water, their terrific new album that teeters between fuzzed-out, anti-capitalist rage and harrowing apathy.
As a group, however, DIIV are unsurprisingly chill. Zooming in from four different accounts, the band — comprised of vocalist and guitarist Cole Smith, guitarist Andrew Bailey, bassist Colin Caulfield, and drummer Ben Newman — are gearing up for a major tour in support of Frog In Boiling Water (get tickets here), and are appropriately trying to savor their last few weeks of peace before cramming back into the tour van for another go around.
“We worked on this album for a really long time, so it’s a huge relief to have it coming out — but it also means we have to transition into a period of a very, very different kind of work,” Newman tells Consequence. “So, it’s scary and exciting.”
For this Crate Digging, DIIV decided to test each other with albums they think the rest of their fellows would probably hate. Of course, not all band members hate all the albums — Newman seemed to enjoy the majority of them. But it’s fascinating to see what each member deemed as both a beloved album and one that’s hard to love. Some of these albums are annoying, abrasive, inaccessible, or downright earnest — but no matter how they sound, the members of DIIV love them through and through.
See below for each DIIV member’s list of albums they love that they think their other band members would probably hate, including Royal Trux’s Accelerator, Sublime’s 40 Oz. to Freedom, and Opeth’s Blackwater Park.
Merzbow — Venereology (Selected by Ben Newman)
Ben Newman: Choosing a harsh noise album might seem like cheating because you’re supposed to hate it, but I actually kind of like it. It’s a noise album, so they all sound pretty similar, but there are two types of noise on this album: There’s extremely harsh, high-pitched feedback noise, which I don’t like as much, and then there’s the stuff like “Klo Ken Phantasie,” which has a warmer, crunchier noise and some really distorted screaming. It’s kind of like ASMR to me — I really like crunchy sounds. So, that’s the one. I think the guys would hate it because it’s really hard to listen to. Honestly, I think most people would hate it.
Essential Track: “Klo Ken Phantasie”
Eightball & MJG — Comin’ Out Hard (Selected by Andrew Bailey)
Andrew Bailey: It was one of those albums where, back in college, I had a car with two cassettes, and one of them was Eightball and MJG. So I listened to it a lot out of necessity, but then I grew to really appreciate it, despite its vulgarity and problematic lyrics. The essential track I picked was “9 Little Millimeta Boys,” which I’m assuming was the single — it’s the second track on the album, but man, that song puts me in a mood. It’s one of those albums you put on when you want to be in a specific mood. That mood is sort of relaxed but feeling like you’re better than everyone, which was a good mood for me to be in when I was 20 years old.
Essential Track: “9 Little Millimeta Boys”
Royal Trux — Accelerator (Selected by Cole Smith)
Cole Smith: A record that I love but feel like my bandmates hate — and I’ve tested this by playing it in the van multiple times, is the Royal Trux record Accelerator. It’s such a cool record, one of my favorite bands. Objectively, a common thread among a lot of the records we’re picking is that they’re kind of annoying, especially in confined spaces like a tour van. Accelerator is a really raw rock album that feels very frantic and improvised. I had a hard time picking the essential song. My favorite is “Juicy, Juicy Juice,” but I think the one that would really rub everyone the wrong way is track three, “Banana Question.” It’s such a cool song — enough said.
Colin Caulfield: It’s funny that we always talk about how hard it is to find a record we all love, but I feel like it’s equally hard to find one we all hate — because I definitely don’t hate that album. But I agree with what Cole said about picking annoying music as the best way to describe this.
Newman: Yeah, that album is annoying.
Essential Track: “Juicy, Juicy, Juice”
Bickle — Biblickle (Selected by Colin Caulfield)
Caulfield: I’ll do a newer record that I just found out about — Biblickle by this Atlanta artist Bickle. It’s a weird, homespun kind of R&B-but-not at the same time. It’s a very experimental-sounding album, but it’s definitely earnest in a way that I know these guys don’t usually like. There’s a song called “Big Blues” that has amazing hooks, vocals, and really cool instrumentation, but it would definitely get an eye roll if I put it on in the van.
Essential Track: “Big Blues”
Joan of Arc — The Gap (Selected by Ben Newman)
Newman: Joan of Arc’s The Gap, truly one of my favorite albums of all time — it’s in my top five, maybe even top three. Without any irony, I can say this album changed my life because before hearing it, I didn’t realize you could make music like this — it’s so weird and artful. Joan of Arc is a polarizing band, and even among their controversial catalog, this is an especially hated album. I read an interview with Tim Kinsella where he said Polyvinyl wanted to reissue all their albums except this one; they just left it off because no one wanted it. It got a 1.9 on Pitchfork, and the review was scathing. Similar to Colin’s pick, there’s some earnest vocal stuff that I think the guys wouldn’t like, and it’s also just a challenging album. But rather than choosing it for its annoyingness, this is an album I truly love and will die on the hill for.
Essential Track: “As Black Pants Make Cat Hairs Appear”
La Bouche — Sweet Dreams (Selected by Andrew Bailey)
Bailey: The next one is LaBouche’s album Sweet Dreams. I know you guys have heard it, and honestly, I’m not sure if you would hate it. I definitely don’t hate that music. It’s an album I’ve always really, really liked, and I get made fun of for it, but I just can’t picture you guys ever saying, “Yeah, let’s throw on LaBouche.” I would be shocked if you did, but I would be vibing. Remember on the last tour, or the one before, when I was playing hype music before the set in the green room? This is what I would have picked if I was by myself. When I was a kid, my best friend’s parents, who were young and from Hungary, listened to this and associated artists nonstop. It’s ingrained in me and really gets me going. And it’s really good — she was an amazing singer.
Essential Track: “Sweet Dreams”
Crass — Penis Envy (Selected by Cole Smith)
Smith: Alright, the next one is the Crass record Penis Envy, which is one of my all-time favorites. I actually think Ben likes this record, but I feel like it would get eye rolls in the van. I think I even picked it on our What’s in My Bag? as legitimately one of my favorite records. However, there’s some stuff on there that I feel would rub the guys the wrong way. The essential track I picked is “Our Wedding,” which I played at my wedding.
Essential Track: “Our Wedding”
Connan Mockasin — Jassbusters (Selected by Colin Caulfield)
Caulfield: This was a concept record tied to a TV show he made, and there was a “Part 2” that came as his most recent record. I know for sure that Ben has confirmed he does not like this album, and Cole is on the fence about it. I remember everyone disliking it. His music is “irony-pilled” in a way that doesn’t fly in the band, and that just sounds unserious. But for whatever reason, I’m able to get past that and just enjoy the music or the feeling. I understand the criticism — the ironic, sexy R&B stuff rubs people the wrong way — but there’s a song called “Con Conn Was Impatient” that has amazing guitar playing and melodies.
Essential Track: “Con Conn Was Impatient”
Opeth — Blackwater Park (Selected by Ben Newman)
Newman: This is a great Swedish band. They started as a death metal band in the ’90s and slowly transitioned into a kind of prog-rock death metal. This was the album that marked their transition — it’s melodic, almost folky progressive metal. Prog-rock, in general, is kind of divisive, and I think there’s something a little bit corny about it that the guys wouldn’t really like. But at the time, around 2001 when it came out, that was my thing. It was similar to Bailey’s experience where I had the CD in my car and listened to it all the time because it was one of the few options. The whole album is like one movement, so it’s all kind of the same, but it’s incredible.
Essential Track: “The Leper Affinity”
Sublime — 40 Oz. to Freedom (Selected by Andrew Bailey)
Bailey: This is another one I listened to way too much when I was a kid. Initially, I hated Sublime because all the popular kids in middle school liked them. But then I actually listened to it and thought, okay, this is cool. Later, it became very uncool to like Sublime, and it still is. Anytime I bring it up, I get hate, but I still think their music is good. The dude (Bradley Nowell) had a really good singing voice, and they have some grooves. I understand that white dudes doing reggae is kind of weird, but as far as punk bands transitioning to reggae, I think Sublime did it best. When I listen to Sublime, it’s like I’m suddenly in Long Beach, even though I’ve barely been there…
Smith: Yeah, it’s definitely a part of California culture. They’re like The Beatles here — it’s like going to Australia and then finding out that AC/DC is The Beatles to them [laughs]. But Sublime did just basically headline Coachella, and No Doubt too, so it was like, wow, Third Wave Ska is back. I got emotional when I saw it because the dad died when his son was about the same age as my son, and it hit me hard.
Essential Track: “40 Oz. to Freedom”
Greymachine — Disconnected
Smith: This is one that I actually feel like Ben would like — I think I texted it to him once, and he didn’t respond. It’s a record from this project called Graymachine. Justin Broderick from Jesu did a project with Aaron Turner from Isis. It’s this extremely brutal kind of industrial drone metal noise record that is one of the most brutal albums I’ve ever listened to, and I listen to it all the time. It’s one of like three records that’s downloaded on my phone, and I really love it. But I could see getting a “Can you please turn this off now?” vibe in the van with that.
Newman: I do like this one, but you’re right, it is very harsh. You kind of have to mentally prepare yourself to listen to music like that.
Essential Track: “Vultures Descend”
Mahavishnu Orchestra — Birds of Fire (Selected by Colin Caulfield)
Caulfield: Ben gave me an idea with prog rock because when I was looking for genres, I realized a lot of contemporary, R&B-adjacent stuff would be easy picks since I know these guys don’t like it. But prog-rock is also a great genre because even I love prog-rock but someone will recommend an album and be like, “You gotta listen to this,” and I do and it’s fucking terrible. There are so many bad albums, but one that I love is “Birds of Fire” by Mahavishnu Orchestra. Maybe Ben also likes this album, I don’t know.
Newman: No, I don’t like it. It’s too wanky.
Caulfield: It has the songs “Miles Beyond,” “Birds of Fire,” and “Thousand Island Park.” It’s very avant-jazz prog, featuring guitarist John McLaughlin and a violinist who would do dueling solos and play the same melody together, giving it a harsh edge. It’s also truly psychedelic and feels like vision quest music — you can tell they were on some different wavelength when making it. When I was younger and played drums, I was obsessed with “Miles Beyond,” a Miles Davis tribute on that album. It’s really good.
Essential Track: “Miles Beyond”
Aphex Twin — Drukqs (Selected by Cole Smith)
Smith: This one, yeah, the band does like it, but I remember listening to it in the van while driving late at night, trying to stay awake. I got a “please turn this off” request. It was the Aphex Twin record Drukqs. I’m a huge Aphex Twin fan, and this album is one of his more frenetic and intense records, with some really bizarre samples. When you’re doing a surface-level listening, it can come off as really annoying music.
The essential track I picked to sum it up is the third track, which starts with “OMG.” I don’t even know how to pronounce the full title, but it’s something like “OMG Y J Y A switch 7.” It features a whip-cracking sample and evolves into a beautiful melody and song, but it’s the kind of thing that would get eye rolls from the band. However, when I texted it to them, they were like, “I love that record.”
Essential Track: “Omgyjya-Switch7”
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