Stretch, Shred, Repeat: Diet Cig’s Energetic Live Gig

By: Peter Cauvel

Diet Cig’s drummer, Noah Bowman, does a few quick pulls of his quads onstage, as people file into the back room at Baby’s All Right. Singer/guitarist Alex Luciano, slips on her guitar and jogs in front of him, kicking her legs in the air. They’re about to play their first show back in New York since their run at SXSW. And while most indie rock shows don’t require much stretching, this duo is about to have quite a workout.

For anyone who hasn’t seen them yet (or has somehow missed their mountains of press coverage), it takes about five seconds for the scene on stage to make sense. Once they get the OK from behind the soundboard, Alex plays her first chords and immediately jumps off her amp. It’s early, and Diet Cig is playing first; but once they get going, the room fills up.

Last year, the duo put out a cassette and a 7” worth of fun lo-fi pop songs (their Facebook page calls it “slop pop”). But their live show takes those songs (and the new ones they’ve been playing) and ramps them up until they’re bouncing off the walls like a hyper kid fed nothing but Mountain Dew and sugar. Luciano is almost never standing still. Whenever there’s a break from singing, she’s dancing and kicking her way across the stage or jumping off the drum set.

But Diet Cig is more than just a photo-op. Their songs are honest, heartfelt, and most importantly, fun. Even without the bonkers energy of the live show, it’s still worth a listen.