DIAMOND GUTS “Short Rips”
(Secret Awesome Records)




When the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock could any ever have envisioned that some 25ish miles away, hundreds of years in the future, a group of three young men would form a musical trope called Diamond Guts? The answer is of course not. If someone did make that prediction they likely would have been burned at the stake as a witch. Fast forward to the year of our lord 2016 and we are living in a world where Diamond Guts is a real band. Musically they seem to fit well into the d.i.y. 90s slacker rock influenced scene that Speedy Ortiz seems to have carved out with fellow New Englanders.

The album, “Short Rips” is actually not short at all. The ten track effort seems to fit in with other good music currently coming out of Massachusetts as opposed to standing out. A band’s self-titled song can offer a good synopsis as to what to expect from them.  In the case of Diamonds Guts here is what we get: “Diamond Guts/Hanging on the wall/A perfect image of the past/ I open up your door/But I’m always out of gas”. I don’t believe front man Zak Kirwin is out of gas, but I don’t think this is his best work either. There isn’t a bad track. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear anything that stood out either. Maybe someone else will. Stream below.


--Roy Blumenfeld