Chicago trio Gosh Diggity have drawn a bead on the chemistry that gave a hard-to-pin-down magnetism to the solo lo-fi electronics projects—among them Say Hi and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone—that occupied a special place in 2000s indie pop. Gosh Diggity’s early EPs, 2019’s banana brains and 2020’s Bedtime for Bonzos, radiate skinned-knee shambolic glee from every sunny keyboard melody and breathy vocal harmony—the singing sometimes sounds like the incantations that best friends at sleepovers share while huddled around a flashlight. The trio have tightened up what they call their “kitchen techno” for their debut album, Runaway Rocketboy, which Retirement Party front woman Avery Springer is releasing through her new Lauren Records imprint, Rat Poison Recordings. Gosh Diggity have sharpened the precision of their chintzy electronic percussion and buttoned up their effervescent melodies to draw out each song’s messy mix of joy, sadness, and longing. On “Driving With Your Knees,” bottle-rocket vocals break through a mellow, melancholy melody at the start of the chorus, transforming bittersweet regret into a shot of radiance that can perk you right up.
Gosh Diggity’s Runaway Rocketboy is available on Bandcamp.