While many long-running bands have shown a more restrained side over the years, Milwaukee-based rock ‘n’ roll trio Diet Lite—Max Niemann (guitar, bass, vocals), Kelson Kuzdas (guitar, bass, vocals), and Evan Marsalli (drums)—adds a bit of grit and pace. Their fifth full-lengther, Double Wide Yukon, which follows up 2023’s successful Into The Pudding LP, offers thirteen new songs at the intersection of garage rock, power pop, and art punk, with some psych freakout moments and hardcore breakdowns.
The record spins a wild, sharp-edged world where existential dread, creative exhaustion, and chaotic self-reinvention all collide in surreal imagery, mythic detours, and gutter-poetic reflections. The lyrics jump between reckless escapism, tongue-in-cheek storytelling, and genuine flashes of vulnerability, painting a portrait of modern life as a frantic, funny, and often overwhelming ride: “Desolation’s calling me // For the world spins crookedly // When one and one and one is three // I bite off more than I can chew” (from I Know).
Everything positive I wrote about their previous album still holds, but the new one is louder and wilder.
Double Wide Yukon—produced by Doug Malone and Diet Lite—is out now digitally and on vinyl LP via Lifehouse.