Colour me intrigued. What I went searching for was early noughties kiwi rock band The D4. What I found was a mysterious on-demand video channel by another D4. With whole albums of moody instrumental music that defies easy categorisation. Not quite ambient, not quite industrial, not quite postrock, not purely electronic. Maybe psychedelic?
I've been #listening to the Hope album, uploaded in 2025;
What I set out to search for was recordings of music by kiwi rock band The D4, whose albums "6TWENTY" and "Out Of My Head" were a big deal in early noughties Aotearoa. Like Weta, they mostly passed me by, in the shade of The Datsuns, and to a lesser extent Deja Voodoo. Perhaps for similar reasons they went dormant 2 years after releasing the sophomore album.
Recognise any of their songs and how do they hold up 20 years later? Find out;
I listened to both D4 albums last night and watched a couple of their music videos. The only song I recognised was Get Loose;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW6SeWPOSAY
It puts me in mind of a latter day Ramones, very fun to dance to at the time, but not much there to bring me back for multiple listens. The drummer is very skilled and pulls off the beats required at a cracking pace, but both the music and the lyrics are mostly paint-by-numbers stuff.
(1/2)
I really don't know what to make of these albums. Perhaps The D4 are exactly what they come across as on first listen; a vanilla pop-rock party band, and a triumph of style over substance, making Definitely Maybe by Oasis, or Green Day's Dookie, or The Offspring's Smash, seem sophisticated by comparison.
OR
Are The D4, like Deja Voodoo, a parody of this kind of band? A satire so subtle it's almost indistinguishable from the thing satirised? I guess we'll never know ...
(2/2)
Strypey