Diva
The Glitter End
Critical Heights
Stellar goth-psych collective Pocahaunted may have lost many of their key members, but goddamnit, with offspring like Best Coast, Sun Araw, and LA Vampires rising from the ashes, one does have to be somewhat of a crank to wail all that loudly. Added to that brood is the solo debut from Poca bassist Diva. With The Glitter End, Diva recasts herself as the alien baroness of electro-weirdo-groove-noise. Despite the ghettofabulous title and the back cover collage of Diva modeling a plethora of different glammy looks (not to mentation the Man Who Fell to Earth-tastic front cover), The Glitter End is in no way a grab for the zeitgesty brass ring in the same way that Crazy For You was. Nah, this is wigged out freaktronica of the most ramshackle stripe. The disc slips out of an inner sleeve that echoes Fripp and Eno’s mock-scientific schematics on the No Pussyfooting album. And once you drop the metaphorical needle on the album you’re bombarded by ramshackle mutant disco and lo-fi electronic doodles.
There are a handful of absolute fucking gems on the record. “Glow Worm” is a deliciously elephantine groove, plodding back and forth, while a multitracked Diva ululates like Kate Bush, and high-pitched electric guitar buzzes around like clouds of mosquitos. The alien chorale of the title track is ace. Then the dubby-Suicide-with-a-wah-pedal smokiness (with appropriately breathy vocals) of “Crocodile Crawl” is a keeper too.
Critical Heights: http://www.criticalheights.com
