Gainesville, FL · emo · indie rock

Dikembe

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Gainesville's own noodly, sad-but-warm emo — a hometown highlight who helped define the modern wave, equal parts twinkle and gut-punch. Expect a partisan crowd.

Dikembe formed in Gainesville, Florida, in December 2010 and set out on their first tour early the next year alongside You Blew It! They became linked with the wave of American emo bands reviving the melodic, guitar-tapping style of the 1990s, building an audience through steady touring rather than any single breakthrough release.

The band signed to Tiny Engines in 2012 and released their debut album, Broad Shoulders, the same year. Bassist Kenny Jewett left in 2013 and was replaced by Randy Reddell, who has remained in the lineup since, and that year the band toured with Signals Midwest.

Their early releases, including the EP Chicago Bowls and Broad Shoulders, circulated widely in that scene and helped establish Dikembe alongside contemporaries in the same loose movement. The sound pairs clean, interlocking guitar lines with heavier, distorted passages and hoarse, conversational vocals.

A second album, Mediumship, followed in 2014, and the band pared down to a three-piece for Hail Something, released on their own label, Death Protector Collective. Guitarist Andy Anaya, previously of You Blew It!, joined in 2017, filling out the lineup again.

Later records moved toward a thicker, more rock-oriented production while keeping the same push and pull between quiet and loud. Dikembe signed to Skeletal Lightning in 2020 and released their fourth album, Muck, their first to feature Anaya.

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emoindie rock