Dios Trio – High on Bikes

September 20, 2011 • Well Weapon Records

Have I made it abundantly clear yet how great Bandcamp is? Better yet, Bandcamp recommendation threads? Anyway, someone threw Dios Trio out there—it's not often that I instantly love an album upon first listen (though that seems to be happening more often lately), but I was instantly taken with this one.

Of course it helps that High on Bikes was already right up my alley; it could be described as a simple fusion of indie emo's jangly clean guitars and slight punk aesthetic with the rhythmic complexity and occasional aggression of math rock, accomplished with some incredibly beautiful riffs and melodies. It imparts a sense of juvenile innocence and nostalgic happiness that I love in this kind of music (really, how can anyone not feel joy in the beginning of the title track?). Even the "Fast Car" cover, which may seem bizarre at first, fits perfectly in my mind as I've always secretly liked that song and it takes me back a bit.

The songwriting itself is a bit hyperactive, jumping from section to section rather haphazardly without much thought for structure, but then again I don't think the music really suffers for it, especially seeing as there are almost no vocals (and what vocals are present act as just another instrument). The composition style makes the music always have a sense of drive and movement, making the album's forty-minute runtime blink by. It feels half as short as it is, not that that's a bad thing. (It might also help that the music is awfully fast most of the time, almost impressively so.)

I don't know how appealing Dios Trio might be to the general crowd, but High on Bikes was an instant hit for me. The band doesn't seem to have been terribly active since its release—just a single last July—but I hope they get off their bikes and put something new out soon. Not that I'm dissatisfied with this album, of course!

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