Diet Cig
High-energy indie pop with a punk heart. Fizzy guitar riffs and vulnerable, diary-style lyrics that feel like a late-night conversation with your best friend.
High-energy indie pop with a punk heart. Fizzy guitar riffs and vulnerable, diary-style lyrics that feel like a late-night conversation with your best friend.
Diet Cig sounds like the exact moment you decide to stop being polite and start being loud. It is a rush of bright, distorted guitar and propulsive drumming that carries Alex Luciano’s distinctively sweet yet sharp vocals. The music occupies the space between a sugar-rush pop melody and a scrappy basement punk set, characterized by a sense of urgent, unpolished joy.
What truly sets them apart is the radical sincerity of their perspective. They manage to make songs about social anxiety, bad dates, and the struggle of early adulthood feel like anthems rather than complaints. There is a physical energy to the sound, a 'high-kick' spirit that translates the awkwardness of growing up into something celebratory and defiant.
Start with the 'Over Easy' EP to hear the raw, foundational energy of the duo. From there, move to 'Swear I’m Good at This' for a more realized version of their signature 'slop-pop' sound. It is the perfect soundtrack for anyone who has ever felt too much in a room full of people.
Diet Cig is an American indie rock duo that formed in September 2014 in New Paltz, New York, United States. The band consists of Alex Luciano on guitar/vocals and Noah Bowman on drums. Their first studio album, Swear I'm Good At This, was released in April 2017. Their second studio album, Do You Wonder About Me, was released in May 2020. Luciano and Bowman met at a house show in New Paltz during the summer of 2014. Bowman's old band, Earl Boykins, was playing at the house show, where Luciano needed a cigarette lighter. She interrupted the band's set to ask Bowman for one, but he gave her a bottle of wine instead. Afterwards, Luciano got his number and told him she'd make a music video for him. The next day, Bowman tattooed a daisy on Luciano's foot and by August 2014, the pair were making music together. Bowman had been in bands since he was 13, but Luciano had never been in a band before and only knew a few chords on the guitar. They officially named their act Diet Cig in September 2014. Luciano and Bowman confirmed in an interview with Pigeons and Planes that the name has no significance.
Shares indie pop, indie rock, garage rock (subgenres); bedroom production, stripped back, lo fi (production style)
Shares indie rock, garage rock, power pop (subgenres); playful, rebellious, energetic (moods)
Shares indie rock, indie pop, garage rock (subgenres); lo fi, bedroom production (production style)
Shares indie pop, garage rock, indie rock (subgenres); bedroom production, stripped back, lo fi (production style)
Shares indie rock, garage rock, power pop (subgenres); playful, rebellious, energetic (moods)
Shares indie rock, garage rock, power pop (subgenres); playful, vulnerable, rebellious (moods)
Shares indie pop, indie rock, garage rock (subgenres); stripped back, lo fi, studio polished (production style)
Shares garage rock, power pop, indie pop (subgenres); basement show, summer (atmosphere)
Shares indie pop, indie rock, garage rock (subgenres); playful, energetic, bittersweet (moods)
Shares indie pop, garage rock, playful, electric guitar (signature)
Shares indie pop, power pop, garage rock, indie rock (signature)
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