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Music

Pocket Hercules's 'Divers' Is So Good I Wish I Sat Next to the Singer at Work

It's the best song in the history of all songs ever.

For the past six months, I've sat next to this guy at work we call BigRiv. He keeps a samurai sword on his desk, eats a burrito for lunch pretty much every day (which he calls a "'rito"), and has a tattoo of Abraham Lincoln with a pair of big ol' titties. Despite the intimidating blade, BigRiv makes my life generally better in the 50-plus hours a week we spend slouched over laptops, shoulder to shoulder. Turns out that the guy's in a band called Pocket Hercules, and he recently hit me up over Gchat to ask if I knew any music writers who could give his new, self-titled LP a shout (I think he was too modest to ask me IRL). I said, "If only you worked at a multibillion dollar media company where all your co-workers liked you, dug your music, and were totally cool with nepotism." He sighed and agreed. "If only!"

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Well today, VICE is premiering Pocket Hercules's first single, "Divers." The band formed in Oregon in 2010 and has since moved to Brooklyn, where most of the members live together in a weird, commune-type cabin above a Greenpoint tattoo parlor.

Photo by Julian Master

"Divers" is angular, vulnerable guitar rock nodding to both the band's Northwest indie rock roots and Chapel Hill bands like Polvo and Archers of Loaf. It's a heart-ripper that begins with a sphincter-tightening guitar riff and continues to storm from there. The full album—recorded in 2014 with Jonny Schenke (Parquet Courts, Mazes)—is set for release March 24 on Seagreen Records.

The song reminds me of seeing Built to Spill with the first girl I fell in love with after we'd broken up. It was a miserable night, but the concert was fucking good. Everything about that night was emotional in an almost painfully earnest way—both the music and the mood. I wish she and I hung out after and ate some 'ritos, but instead I walked home alone while listening to a song that should have been the one embedded above. Thanks for being you, BigRiv.

Pocket Hercules's self-titled album is out March 24. Preorder it here.

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