The Diggers - Mount Everest

I wouldn’t be surprised if The Diggers were a musical offshoot of callers to The Samaritans. The lyrics are full of laments about happy times, now long gone. They moan about their lives going nowhere, and that nobody loves them. It’s as if they are suffering from a mid-life crisis twenty years too early.

While the lyrics may be depressive, many of the tunes are quick paced and lively. Predominantly guitar driven, they offer a range of tone and feeling. None of the instrumentation is outstanding but it provides a solid foundation for the vocals which are both laconic and melancholic. The album is short, even so, this is more than enough time for the singer’s voice to get on your nerves. Overall it’s listenable, but lacking in depth or variety. The first track, ‘Circles’ shows them to best light, being upbeat about being miserable. It has chirpy lyrics and bright fretwork. Then ‘Peace Of Mind’ continues in a similar vein but down a notch on the cheerfulness rating, with lines such as, "Dig deep, six feet if you have to". Things become progressively disheartening from then on in, although quality wise the album never struggles or begs to be switched off.(6)

Dav