DIIV's 'ZIRP!' Is a Joyful Masterpiece of Live Drums and Loud Guitars
The Sonic Breakdown
ZIRP! landed October 30 on Fantasy Records — eleven tracks, forty-one minutes, the band’s first since Frog in Boiling Water in 2024. Zachary Cole Smith on vocals and guitar, Andrew Bailey on guitar, Colin Caulfield on bass and vocals, Ben Newman on drums. The pitch to A. G. Cook was that he would deconstruct and rebuild their demos the way Andrew Weatherall did for Primal Scream. He turned it down.
The Production & Mix
The Low-End: Cook’s own account of why the remix plan died is the best thing on the record’s paperwork: the hybrid approach felt “completely wrong,” and instead “I became a bit obsessed with their live sound.” He “insisted on recording live drums before most of the songs were even finished,” which is why Newman’s kit sits at the front of this mix instead of under it.
The Spatial Dynamics: With the rhythm section tracked live, Cook spent the sessions on “intricate guitar parts with specific guitar pedals” and kept the computer work minimal. mxdwn hears “some of the best riffs of any new rock record recently,” singling out the buzz-saw fuzz lead on “The Crash” and “My Star,” with synth bleeps threaded through rather than pasted over.
Standout Performance
Cook, as the producer who argued against his own reputation. Clash notes he “comes into his own on ‘Trillions’” — the track where autotuned vocals and pop percussion meet the guitars head-on and nobody blinks.
Why It’s Certified
⚡ Eleven tracks, opening on “The Fountain” and closing on “Idiot In The Sky,” with “Kid,” “Trillions” and “Dare Me” all out ahead of release.
🌈 Stereogum made it Album Of The Week, under the headline “Their Best Album Yet.” Clash scored it 8/10: “A gorgeous and at times haunting shoegaze evolution.”
🌈 NME landed on “ambitious, unflinching and, ultimately, optimistic,” and hears My Bloody Valentine in “Us Against You.” The band’s own framing, from the sleeve copy: “This record is FUN. It was fun to make and it is fun to listen to.”