It's now time for our 148th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, but in a sense, it's part 2 of our 86th, as we're taking a look at defunct local power pop/hard rock trio
The Din's
"deluxe edition" of their 2016 debut studio album
"Give In To The Din"! Originally released as a 9 song independent LP on August 12th of that year, The Din announced on it's five year anniversary that they'd be posthumously reissuing it through frontman
Mike Haggith's own MorningStar Studios imprint with an equal number of bonus tracks, and the deluxe edition came out on October 23rd. The old and "new" tracks were largely recorded locally at Pretoria Hill Productions with producer Daniel Schmidt (save for "Alleyways & Apartments" at
Mission Control Studios with Dustin Jones), and all feature the band's classic lineup, including Mike on vocals, bass, and keyboard alongside former Steeletown Girls guitarist Tammy Hill & current Re:Born drummer Brandan Glew.
The expanded reissue is available on most major streaming or mp3 download platforms accessible at this Distrokid link. Notably, mp3 copies will run you $10 on Bandcamp (song names linked below come from there) or $7.99 on Amazon, and you can order physical CD copies at this link for $10, with the nine bonus tracks included on the album's second disc. Now, as I have already reviewed "Give In To The Din" on the SMS when it first came out, I will not be re-reviewing it here, but I will lead off by recapping my general thoughts, and I will compare these new alternate versions to the original/final copies when necessary. To read my original review, click here.
In that review, I praised the album for The Din's chemistry & talent, the catchy and up-tempo sound that adapted well to different moods, and the solid production quality, with songs like
"Flux",
"75", and
"Potato (Should've Known Better)" among my favourites in their selection. On the flipside, I did find the somewhat constant dinging effect on the cymbals to be overdone, the emptiness of the drawn out
"A Drive Through The Peninsula" wasn't to my taste, and I did acknowledge at the time that this album felt a little short, as The Din had more originals/holdovers from Mike's solo career that they played live but didn't include on the album proper, which only had 5 songs that originated with The Din. Still, as a debut indie release, this was a solid first effort that showed what The Din were all about from the get-go!
The opening song on disc #2 is one of two brand new tracks for the deluxe edition, namely a studio demo of their previously unreleased song "Differences", which was played at this album's initial CD release party, the live cut of which will be released on The Din's upcoming "Technically Live" album. A mid-tempo rocker that makes good use of Mike's melodic yet deep vocal range, it strikes me as a simpler song than some that did make the cut in 2016, which may be why they left it off at the time despite the album's short length. There is a nice extended solo in the bridge, but it feels tacked on and doesn't flow with the song as well as others did from the original release. Despite being labelled as a demo, the recording quality isn't bad, it just sounds more like they were recorded off the floor during a jam session.
"Differences" isn't a bad song, and will deliver for fans who like seeing The Din's heavier side, but it's not the instrumental showcase that some other tracks proved to be. Next is the first of two newly released versions of "Flux", starting with
an "alternate version", so what's different from the original? This is basically the same song, but slightly slower and less enthusiastic, and the recording just feels emptier than the final version. "Flux" is one of my favourite Din songs, but aside from maybe crisper quality on Brandan's drum solo, there's nothing here that wasn't improved on for the album proper. That's followed by
a demo of "Remember", which was more of a campfire ballad if with more production value, but this demo is more stripped down, intimate, and a little faster, which actually suits it pretty well! Production's obviously not as good, but I do prefer this demo take overall!
The next five songs are early mixes for songs from the original album, including "first mixes" of
"Potato (Should've Known Better)" &
"In Search of The Perfect Moment", plus "instrumental mixes" of
"75",
"Flux", and
"Potato" again. Instrumentally, these early takes are identical as the final copies, and the differences come from the mixing process & vocals (or lack thereof). Comparing back to back, the obvious tell is that the preliminary mixes are quieter and less dynamic, but Mike's singing does come through flatter on the first two songs, and backing vocals on "Potato" are completely gone. The instrumental versions are interesting, but once you're so used to hearing these songs with vocals, they do feel somewhat empty. This doesn't affect the album, but I feel like The Din missed the boat by not posting lyrics for the instrumental mixes, thusly allowing fans to have Din karaoke!
The deluxe edition of "Give In To The Din" closes with it's second & final new "song", namely a 98 second spoken word track named "Our Place In Tbe Scene". In it, Mike amusingly compares The Din to the creepy relative no one talks about in the "family" of the local music scene, with Mike even name-dropping other (mostly) contemporary bands at a hypothetical gathering. Tammy is present, mainly reacting to Mike's comparisons, but Brandan wasn't in on this one. Amusing listen, even if Mike heavily undersells The Din, and it's a fun bonus to end the deluxe edition with!
So, what are my final thoughts on the second disc/bonus tracks for "Give In To The Din"? I think these are a neat bonus for long-time fans, but unless it's comparable or easier to buy this over the original, I don't think you have to go out of your way for the extras. It's great to hear a studio version of "Differences" finally, "Our Place In The Scene" is funny, and I do prefer the "Remember" demo as a piece of music to the final version, but the "Flux" demo is easily inferior, and the preliminary mixes are likely more of interest to diehard fans who want to catalog the progress of individual songs. It's hard to say what else (if anything) is left from the 2016 recording sessions that could theoretically have made the cut here, so I won't speculate, but opening the vaults like this is something I wish more local bands would do! I wonder if we'll see The Din do something similar for "Suburban Dream" in the future?
If you haven't bought "Give In To The Din" yet, or haven't heard it in a while, this would be more than enough reason to catch yourself up, and you can stream or download it at the above links! I think casual fans will be just fine with the original 9 songs/disc #1 though. I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, but what are we looking at on the site in November 2021? I'm not 100% sure yet, but here's what I can say. Our 6 month buffer period to avoid showing a bias or preferential treatment towards specific acts is still in effect, which means I can't look at Molten Imp's new digital single until 2022, while The Din's upcoming "Technically Live" (release date not yet known) will not be hitting the site until April at the earliest. The Inner City Surfers and (if they suddenly released something new) Slumshine or Late & Loud are also out next month no matter what.
The elephant in the room is arguably Mike Haggith's upcoming solo album "Bridges", which is supposed to come out before the end of the year, and as his solo project is distinct from The Din, it can be reviewed upon release, but could it be next month? Time will tell, but stay tuned for the identity of our next album review in any event, and for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone, and have a Happy Halloween!
