‘As I drown in unforgiving daylight, I keep myself afloat on a melody, I jam it in a bottle and screw the lid on, And send the future some positive energy’ (Nausea)

Berlin centred Diät have never been the most prolific of touring bands.  Mind you, anyone who had the pleasure of catching their blistering set at 2016’s Static Shock Weekend IV will testify that this has certainly not dampened their live prowess.  This sparing appetite has dictated that shows have tended to be at weekenders and festivals rather than smaller clubs, making this recording all the more unique, capturing as it does the band in action at S.O.36 in September 2022.

As you would anticipate, the eleven-track set draws heavily on the band’s two full-lengths, 2015’s Positive Energy and 2019’s Positive Disintegration.  But it also includes a couple of rarer cuts never previously put to vinyl, namely opener Youth Of Neukölln and Dead Body.

Punk live recordings are inherently difficult propositions to nail.  They need to find a way to convey the sheer energy of the performance and the intimacy of the band-crowd interaction, while still producing a snapshot that stands on its own two feet.  This is a balance that is deftly struck here.

There is a rawness to the delivery, one that evokes that night’s atmosphere without overwhelming the identity of the individual tracks.  Indeed, it introduces some intriguing new textures and shades to familiar friends such as We, Hurricane, and Young & Successful.  The plaintive guitars chime with the band’s soaring trademark melancholy and the rhythm section isn’t afraid to assert itself in the mix.  Meanwhile, the disdainfully detached vocals conjure a darkly poetical narrative of crushed hopes, evaporating time, and a world slowly consuming itself through economic self-interest.