DITZ

“A terrific debut album” CLASH 9/10

“All told, The Great Regression is about as strong as debut records get. Channelling all of its rage, sarcasm and scorn into a taut, well-honed package it’s both a brutal assault on the senses and a window into the raw talent and unique worldview that makes Ditz one of the most interesting bands on the current UK punk scene..” Loud & Quiet

“The English punks’ debut is a rage-forward bulldozer of poetic wordplay and experimental hardcore.” Pitchfork 7.3

“This album has a sense of urgency and visceral intensity, and DITZ rarely bore with their snotty, twisted, and deadly playing.” Pop Matters

Today, DITZ share new single ‘Taxi Man’ taken from their recently announced new album Never Exhale out 24th January 2025 via Republic Of Music and Domino Publishing. They also announce a string of intimate in-store performances at some of the UK’s best record stores.

Never Exhale is the sound of a band that hasn’t stopped for a breath. DITZ have toured relentlessly since the release of their first record The Great Regression and the songs that form their newest offering were written across Europe, often on off days and in borrowed rehearsal rooms just to break up the long drives - it’s album that reflects the sound of the road.

Formed in late 2015, DITZ came together after vocalist C.A. Francis, guitarist Anton Mocock, and bassist Caleb Remnant, went to watch METZ and Lightning Bolt at Concorde 2 in Brighton, turning to each other and saying “let’s do that”, with guitarist Jack Looker and drummer Sam Evans later joining.

Singer C.A. Francis said of the track, “We’ve been talking playing most of this new album live for a year now. Out of all the tracks, Taxi Man has been the most requested.

We wrote it across a couple of days in Cologne, in a disused air raid bunker. We properly fell out while we were writing it. There was nothing coming for so long until we stumbled into Taxi Man. The whole song came together pretty quickly and is now collectively our favourite track to play live. It’s one of those moments you hope to recreate again sometime but can’t really imagine the scenario.”

It could be said that the band treat recording and release of music as an afterthought. Often playing songs live years before their release, tweaking them as they go. Sonically the album has its roots in the usual DITZ influences, classic noise rock such as The Jesus Lizard or Shellac, or the obtuse post punk of the Fall, but also brings in fresh influences. It’s political, but ultimately personal, and the album themes reveal themselves more on further listens.

Never Exhale was largely recorded at Holy Mountain studios in London during a freezing cold January. The process was fraught with obstacles, as the original plan to record in Rhode Island was abandoned when DITZ were offered a support tour with IDLES. Although the album was still mixed by the originally intended engineer, Seth Manchester (Model/Actriz, Lingua Ignota, Big Brave). The result is a record hardened by the pressure of its own making. Laboured but not loved.

Overall the album is a clear development from their first effort. A sign of things to come.