New Yorkers Gravitate towards Diarrhea Planet at Death By Audio

By Melissa Caruso

On JEFF the Brotherhood’s Infinity Cat label, you’ll find Diarrhea Planet, a band that sounds like what would happen had Beavis and Butthead moved to Nashville and joined a rock ‘n’ roll band.

“We started out as a joke. We thought, what could be so offensive, but still be hilarious for ourselves. Even five guitars on stage, that’s a joke.” Not only are they free of inhibitions, they continue to make music simply for the sake of itself; while they may not be trying to impress, they are doing just that.

With a packed crowd at the Williamsburg DIY venue, Diarrhea Planet fed off the crowd’s energy—at times, their free-for-all madness seemed to be confined by the stage. Intrepidly, they took turns diving into moshpits and playing upside down without missing a beat. From defending rock ‘n’ roll to rewriting punk’s national anthem while invoking pop-flavored hooks, Diarrhea Planet gives plenty of reasons to be interested. With songs off their recent Loose Jewels already memorized, it’s apparent that an East Coast fan base exists.

Magnetic guitarmonies on songs like “Warm Ridin” warranted the simultaneous head nods below the stage, and as the mayhem from the crowd increased, the band responded with “Faucer,” where seething guitars raced to the finish line, only to tease with its final lingering array. Not ready to quit, the tongue-in-cheek “Ghost with a Boner” erected for the encore, inducing The Who’s everything-must-get-destroyed-at-the-end mindset. Although not quite at the position to smash their equipment, it won’t be long until the endorsements start rolling through for these guys.

After their show, I spoke with guitarists Emmett and Evan.

What is going on in Nashville that the rest of us need to know?

Evan: Ahh, where do you start? I think the cool thing about Nashville is that you can pretty much do whatever you want, and if you’re doing it genuinely, people will be receptive. It's kind of more of a question of, like, we’re celebrating the fact that we are musicians and we can be expressive rather than, we sound like this, or we look like this, or we fit this mold. I think New York is too big to be able to do what Nashville does. I think there are pockets of New York—I mean obviously Williamsburg, specifically—with a similar vibe but i don't know, maybe it’s because it's the south, or the size of the city, but I've never been quite anywhere else that can do what Nashville does. It’s hard for me to articulate.

What have been your favorite shows played in Nashville?

Emmett: Anything at the Exit/In, especially bills with Fucked Up, JEFF the Brotherhood, and that one gig at Zombie Shop. Zombie Shop was this motorcycle/moped repair garage. It was huge, also a show space. And on New Year's Eve, last year, we had a show with maybe 500 people who came out and it was an awesome blend of like, you know, great PA great sound; it had all the vibe of an Exit/In show, but with an energy, you know, of a more nitty-gritty basement show.

What are the best albums you’ve heard from 2012?

Evan: We’re the best. I don't buy vinyl. Suckers. I'm just kidding. Damn. Probably Local Business by Titus Andronicus, Never Grow Up by BigKids, and ahh I…..ahhh…..damn, I don't know. I mean DUH, JEFF the Brotherhood. I'd probably go with their Hypnotic Nights.

Emmett: Ahh, this is tough because like 98 percent of the music listening I do is either Prince’s Purple Rain or Third Eye Blind's self-titled debut. I'm still so stuck in that; I don’t really know anything new. Wait! Live.Love.ASAP—yeah that one' s definitely in there.

Evan: Yeah, sprinkle that one in my list, too.

Emmett: Alright, in no particular order, I got to go with our bogus bros, JEFF’s Hypnotic Nights, Local Business again, probably Taylor Swift’s Red. If I just had to rattle off three that came to mind, those are the first three that would come to my mind.

Evan: Yeah, Taylor Swift for me, too.

"I can’t stop playing my Squier Stratocaster despite living in Nashville, with all the Gibson stuff and all the opportunities to play Gibson guitars. I keep playing my Squire Stratocaster."