I didn’t have a pop record from DIIV, the 2010s indie shoegaze boys, on the docket for close to the end of 2026. ZIRP! isn’t a pop record in the mainstream sense, but it has the band flirting with more pop-esque production, courtesy of A.G. Cook, with auto-tune, electronic drums, bubblegum synth stabs, all mixed with DIIV’s classic underwater, hazy tones.
It’s a weird combo, for sure, especially on a track like “Trillions” or “Kid,” which makes the vocalist, Zachary Cole Smith, tread into an Owl City territory… It’s not really my cup of tea, but we do have some good, more Oshin-esque shoegaze DIIV with tracks like “Us Against You,” “Dare Me,” and opener “The Fountain.”
After Frog in Boiling Water, arguably their heaviest record, two years ago, it makes sense that DIIV wanted to switch it up and go for a more pop-led sound. And when they really lay into it, like on the toy synthy “Evangelizer,” it really works. But when the classic DIIV guitars are melded into the pop focus, it can feel a bit like two parents arguing over a child that has no real care in who “wins.” I honestly believe that if I had never heard Oshin, or even Is The Is Are, I’d probably dig ZIRP! more.
But alas, I miss the obfuscating, airy vocals and harmonic and halyconic guitars. I know I’ll never get another “Doused” again, and that’s OK, I guess.
