“Rock is dead, they say…”
– Pete Townshend, 1974
Rolling on a rocket full of pristine crunch, libertine guitars and bashing Bonham drums, Diet Lite’s new LP, Double Wide Yukon, delivered a strong salvo to anyone suggesting guitar rock was nearing its demise. These three Milwaukeeans are professional athletes: high knees flying, electric guitars never dying, going back to back sinking to their knees, rising again and reminding the crowd that hey, hey, my, my, rock and roll will never die. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Before I could delve into Diet Lite’s show, supported by Milwaukee’s Fellow Kinsman and Indianapolis’ Pat and the Pissers, in front of a raucous Friday night crowd at Vivarium, I had to meet the group via Zoom.
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Balancing the Filth with the Sizzle on Double Wide Yukon
To learn more about their journey leading to the delicious and dastardly Double Wide Yukon, I met Diet Lite virtually, two days before their album release show. Guitarist/vocalist Max Niemann was flanked by guitarist/vocalist Kelson Kuzdas and drummer Evan Marsalli, all of whom were framed by a lovely painting Niemann snagged from his grandfather’s dental studio. “He made fake teeth, dentures and what not,” Niemann said. “He moved here from Romania in his 20s.” Drummer Marsalli hastened to add, “My parents aren’t dentists.”
Family plays a part in a track called “A Hole in the Ground.” I accused the song of being a Pyramid of Riff, to which Kuzdas confirmed, “That’s a triad; it’s a trifecta.” Marsalli built the triad riff, and Max and Kelson formed interlocking guitar parts that twist and soar their way through the verses until the chorus describes a “famous family story”, related by Kuzdas:
“My brother and a friend planned to hike the Pacific Crest Trail [a 2,650-mile-long trek]. They lost the trail and hiked to the top of a mountain to get their bearings. They saw this wall of storm clouds, a wall of darkest charcoal gray coming at them. They called 911 several times, but every time it dropped the call. I was 9 or 10 at the time. He finally called home and asked our mom for 200 bucks to take a bus home.”
After three years of “60 to 70 shows each year, just gunning it,” Niemann said, Diet Lite was ready to take a more moderate pace and head into the studio, hoping to capture the frenetic essence of their live show.
“There was a phrase we kept coming back to in the studio: We wanted to balance the filth, the gurgle with the sizzle,” Niemann said. “Finding that balance was the mission of this record.”
The tempo is predominantly reckless abandon, the vocals careening from erudite Social Distortion to sneering ‘66 Dylan, only with a better sense of groove. The guitar is rollicking and relentless, the riffs never-ending, and the drumming delivering destruction with a sidecar of joy.
“We kept talking about Nirvana’s In Utero, getting the back, live, dirty sound. Fugazi and Minutemen were big touch points,” Niemann said.
Kuzdas added that he was inspired by “the rhythm section from Mannequin Pussy, that sound with the drums and bass. I really like that production style.” The immediate crunch in Double Wide Yukon’s production provides paint-peeling beauty to endless layers of guitar, and the bass/drum mix is punchy enough to land a first-round KO. But how does it sound live? Let me tell ya…
Bananas on the Rider: Diet Lite’s Live Show
“We put bananas on our rider for the show, so we have potassium.” – Marsalli
“Not cramping up up there.” – Niemann
“Natural source of beta-blockers.” – Kuzdas
Ever wish that the legendary Shank Hall had a younger cousin, one with plant life emerging from the architecture, a bit more natural light, while still residing on Farwell Avenue? Welcome Vivarium into the family of great East Side music halls. Fantastic lighting, ideal sightlines, incredible sound and a perfect amount of communal space made the Vivarium the right venue for Diet Lite to debut Double Wide Yukon, an album of relentless electric energy, full of gutsy guitar-based songs loaded with gritty, pristine crunch. In fact, Diet Lite lays claim to being the first local band to have sold out Vivarium. On Friday night, after their Milwaukee comrades Fellow Kinsman kicked things off and Indianapolis’ Pat and the Pissers blew the bloody doors off, Diet Lite took the stage.
“We love Fellow Kinsman. They’re some of our best homies in the scene,” Niemann said. “And Pat and The Pissers – if you’re not familiar, you’ve gotta get familiar. They’re one of the best working rock bands in the Midwest.”
The band was not relaxed, nor did they play it cool. Instead, Niemann and Kuzdas kicked the energy up to eleven, racing back and forth across the stage, climbing the amps, sinking to the floor for solos, raising the ax in triumph for the capacity crowd. These guys play guitar with such furious virtuosity it’s as if their bodies need additional challenges, such as leaping, high knees, deep limbo or impossible head-bobbing. To increase the level of fun and difficulty, Kuzdas and Niemann swapped lead for bass guitar in the middle of the set, just as they did during the recording of Double Wide Yukon. Marsalli mashed loose and tight on the skins, underlying the infectious flux of riff and rhythm that Diet Lite launched upon a very suspecting collection of body-slamming, singing-along Milwaukeeans vibing out at Vivarium.
Slam dancing was more prevalent than any show has attended in a long time. After I dodged my seventh unhinged elbow, I backpedaled stage right, hoping to jot down the brand of shoes that Niemann and Kuzdas were running out of soles, I realized that I may have saved Thanksgiving. For anyone across the table from a curmudgeonly uncle or father-type who whines that nobody makes “real” music anymore – or that, like The Who conned in 1974, “rock is dead” – tell them you’ve got four words for them: Go see Diet Lite.
You can listen to Double Wide Yukon by Diet Lite on Bandcamp and most streaming platforms.
See Diet Lite Live:
Saturday, Jan. 10
Cactus Club (Anodyne Workers Benefit)
w/ Dusk & Bad Crime
6:30 p.m. Doors, 7 p.m. Music
Tickets: $15 at door or online
