Gets Old LP (Red/Orange)

Diesel Boy – Gets Old LP (Red/Orange)

The quartet holed up in Christopher’s basement and began assembling the dozen songs that make up their fifth album, “Gets Old,” their first since 2001. Though the band’s lineup has changed, the songs are classic Diesel Boy. “Gets Old” manages a delicate high wire act, balancing the snarky and the sincere, the melodic and the muscular. The album is littered with the band’s trademark pop culture references and features songs about music festival bros (“Festival Summer”), sad black metal fans (“Corpse Paint Blues”), chess-playing automatons (“The Turk”), and fellow songwriters who died too soon (“Two Stones”). It was produced by Matt Bayles, known for his work with Pearl Jam, Mastodon, and Botch, who leans equally into the guitar-heavy sound he is known for while flexing his pop sensibilities. The album is a whole lot of fun, showcasing a musical evolution that simultaneously picks up right where Diesel Boy left off. The first single “Bismarck,” is a pop-punk banger featuring a guest appearance by Kim Warnick of legendary Seattle band The Fastbacks.

1. Lost Decade
2. Dirty Dishes
3. Viking Funeral
4. Corpse Paint Blues
5. The Turk
6. The Finnish Line
7. Bismarck
8. Short and to the Point
9. Festival Summer
10. Internet Girl
11. Swan Song
12. Two Stones