DIIV - Is the Is Are - VINYL LP

Ladies, gentlemen, and anyone in between, after the massive (and I must say unexpected) success of the 10-volume series InchBoss Black RockersInch I decided to get back to work and found 280 new tracks for a new series of ten killer volumes. I focused on stuff never or rarely heard anywhere else and also not already been used for other Koko-Mojo Records compilations. That was actually pretty easy. The hard part was finding a cool name for this new series. More often than not InchEasy Does ItInch so I decided to simply (and cleverly) call it InchMORE Boss Black RockersInch. As y'all already know, so many similar projects were devoted through the years to white rock and rollers (even the most obscure and unknown) and very little to the people that not only InchoriginatedInch this music and played it long before white musicians started to fool around with it. They also continued to play it when black Rhythm and Blues music was suddenly re-named InchRock and RollInch to appeal to a wider white audience in segregated America and became a multi-racial genre in the mid-1950s. Once again, some tunes are pretty well-known, but the vast majority are not. Chances are that you never-ever heard a lot of the tracks included here - even if a lot of them were pretty popular in the 1950s among both black and white Rock and Roll fans. Most of the artists in this new series (just like the first one) were actually household names in the InchRock and Roll WorldInch of the '50s and early '60s. When Rock & Roll history was re-written from a strictly white rock standpoint only a few black rockers were included (maybe less than a dozen) when actually back in the day almost every African-American R&B act (maybe a MILLION or more) was actually Rock & Roll and white artists were actually a minority for a long time. So InchBLACKInch by popular demand here's to you InchMORE Boss Black Rockers.Inch

For over a decade, fans around the world have screamed their lyrics back at As It Is across the UK, USA, Europe, Japan, and Australia. They've lit up festival stages and toured alongside scene legends like Neck Deep, Sum 41, Against The Current, Silverstein, Mayday Parade, Set It Off, and so many more - building a community that has only gotten louder, prouder, and more connected with time. - Fans have seen As It Is honored with multiple Rock Sound Magazine awards, including the 2025 Icon Award and 2019's Power of Music Award, and celebrated on the covers of Rock Sound, Upset, Kerrang, and Alternative Press. Their voice has even echoed into The New York Times and GQ, where their honesty and emotional transparency helped shape a bigger conversation about what music can mean to people. With their self-titled fifth studio album at the forefront, As It Is aren't just reflecting on their journey - they're welcoming fans into a new chapter. One defined by growth, resilience, and the unbreakable connection between the band and the people who have stood with them every step of the way.

Occupying the corners between fuzzed-out shoegaze bliss, troubadour poetry, and metallic catharsis, DIIV - Zachary Cole Smith [lead vocals, guitar], Colin Caulfield [vocals, bass], Andrew Bailey [guitar], and Ben Newman [drums] - personally inhabit the recesses of their third full-length album, Deceiver. A whirlwind brought DIIV here. On the heels of 2012's Oshin, the group delivered the critical and fan favorite Is the Is Are in 2016. Praise came from The Guardian, Spin, Rolling Stone and more. Pitchfork's audience voted Is the Is Are one of the Top 50 Albums of 2016, as the outlet dubbed it Inchgorgeous.Inch Simultaneously, frontman Zachary Cole Smith faced down seemingly dormant demons, and the momentum stalled. Two years after embarking on a program of recovery, Smith has emerged with a clear head and renewed focus. For the first time, DIIV lived with songs on the road. During a 2018 tour with Deafheaven, they performed eight new compositions as the bulk of the set. The tunes progressed as the players did. By the time DIIV entered 64 Sound to record with producer Sonny Diperri, the band felt a certain confidence. It's evident on first single InchSkin Game,Inch which gallops forth on a clean guitar riff before unfolding into a hypnotic hook offset by an off-kilter rhythm and hummable solo. InchBeing a recovering addict myself,Inch he says, Inchthere are a lot of questions like, 'Who are we? What is this disease? Skin Game' looks at where the pain comes from - the personal, physical, emotional, and broader political experiences feeding into the cycle of addiction for millions of us.Inch A trudging groove and wailing guitar punctuate a lulling apology on the magnetically melancholic InchTaker.Inch For Smith, it's Inchabout taking responsibility for your lies, their consequences, and the entire experience.Inch Meanwhile, the ominous bass line and crawling beat of Inch