Oklahoma pop-punkers CLIFFDIVER just released one heck of an album: Exercise Your Demons. You can check out the music video for CLIFFDIVER’s single “Who Let the Hawgz Out?” above and stream the album below!
CLIFFDIVER features lead vocalists Joey Duffy and Briana Wright, guitarists/vocalists Matt Ehler and Gilbert Erickson, bassist Tyler Rogers, saxophonist Dony Nickles, and drummer Eliot Cooper. Each band member has had their own struggles with mental health that they are able to project into their music. Duffy and Wright have survived past suicide attempts and are using this record to offer strength and hope to others. Exercise Your Demons is, by its very existence, a testament to what happens if you don’t let your demons win.
According to Wright, this is exactly why the record is called Exercise Your Demons: “While you may not be able to exorcise them and get them out of your life, you can train them and get them under control.”
Exercise Your Demons is a fresh spin on the scene’s sound and meaning by emphasizing the unspoken things people should express. You can catch the scene’s next big band live with Bowling for Soup & Less Than Jake this summer.
Be sure to check out my thoughts on the album below and keep up with CLIFFDIVER on social media!
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Rising artist CLIFFDIVER drops a banger of an emo album ‘Exercise Your Demons’
The musicality of the album is absolutely refreshing. CLIFFDIVER utilizes classic pop-punk beats with dancy riffs to create a feel-good atmosphere. Their songs are a summary of the musicality in the genre, giving vibes of icons like Mayday Parade, Neck Deep, Senses Fail, and State Champs.
The third track “Frankie Muniz Don’t Smoke No Mids” gives 90s grunge rock and current pop-punk feelings at the same time. This song will absolutely command crowds into headbanging contests and mosh pits. The lyrics also pull on your heartstrings. The emotional closing lyric of the song “Why do I keep living this way?” pulls you into their pain. The lyrics focus on battles that so many of us can relate to, and that question as to why haunts us all forever.
That song gave me absolute chills.
“Death is a Wedding” instantly gave me early Senses Fail vibes with its opening riffs. This is another track where I will start headbanging and dancing before I realize the raw feelings of loss in the lyrics. What really stuck out to me about this track was the repeated lyric: “Forgive me for giving up and move on.” It left me speechless at the first listen. It’s this pleading idea of “I can’t do it, I give up. I know it is wrong to give up, but please forgive me.” An emotion experienced by so many people about various things that is never brought to light.
“Super Saiyan Al Pacino” opens as a more acoustic piece that offers a resemblance to my favorite Neck Deep track. As the song picks up, I begin to shake off the sadness of the previous track. The main rhythm of this song is undoubtedly my favorite one on this record.
The album closes with “IKEA Strikes Back.” A comical title for an epic ending of this polished album. To me, the song offers the idea of giving up on giving up. “I’m so done with picking up these pieces” emphasizes how we can be done with letting the pieces collapse again.
You can listen to the full album on Spotify below or on your preferred streaming service. Let us know on social media what you think of the record Exercise Your Demons.
Featured Image courtesy of Josh New and Big Picture Media
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