Dim is probably an unfamiliar name to most of our readers who I know listen to an extraordinary assortment of music but may have missed this release when it came out. I know I did. Dim’s incredible self-titled album came out the 2nd of October of 2015 overlooked by many but I’m here to explain to you why this needs to be heard.
At this exact moment, Chicago has been over-taken by rap in all forms. Obviously if we’re thinking legends there’s Typical Cats, Twista, Common, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco (obviously I’m missing a bunch) but there’s a solid list of people who have changed rap from this city. As of recent we have Saba, Chance The Rapper, Sosa, G Herbo, Vic Mensa, Lucki Ecks, Bibby, Hurt Everybody who although haven’t hit major radio airplay (aside from Vic) have all made their mark on the rap scene today, especially this year. Chicago is moving towards becoming the greatest music city in the world, but we can’t do that with just rap.
There’s a booming DIY rock scene coming up that is extremely strong with bands like Meat Wave, Ne-Hi, Clearance, Kangaroo, Gross Pointe, YAWN (yes there are more but that’s all I care about vouching for right now) and my new personal favorite Dim. I saw Dim open up for Oozing Wound at Emporium about a month back and had no idea what I was in store for. They were the only band on the Facebook event page that didn’t have their own page and didn’t think about looking them up on bandcamp at that exact time but I’m glad I didn’t because going in blind made for one of the best rock shows I’ve seen to date. Dim is noise. Dim is a wall. Dim will blow you away immediately.
The 4-piece consists of drums, bass, a guitarists who’s lyrics are so hidden under effects there’s no way to make out what he’s saying, and a dude that hits samples using a control pad. At the first note they had clicked off too I was in it for the long haul. The record is only 8 songs deep sitting around 18 minutes, but they commit to blasting you away the entire time through.
All of this to say, I believe Chicago is on the verge of becoming the home for the next renaissance in the world and through all the destructive policing, gentrification, segregation we’ve had to go through we can rise above that and create the most creative art scene in the world. But we can’t do that with just one scene. We need rap, rock, jazz, folk, country, dance and we need all of them to start working together, not competitively, collaboratively and supportive of what each scene is doing. Chicago’s a big city with a lot of musicians to offer and until we start working together, we’ll continue to be divided.
Chicago is on the verge of something great and though the rock scene has not really been anything to brag about for the past decade, we’re coming back around. Dim is something to brag about so listen below:
