Welcome back to Left of The Dial! This time, we’re listening to I’m Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams by Diarrhea Planet. Diarrhea Planet was a short-lived garage punk band that hailed from Nashville, Tennessee, having formed in 2009 and broken up in 2018. The band consisted of Jordan Smith on vocals and guitar, Emmett Miller and Brent Toler both on guitar and vocals, Evan Bird on guitar, Mike Boyle on bass, and Ian Bush on drums. I’m Rich was their second full-length album, released in August 2013. With a band name like theirs, what are you expecting to hear from this album? I assure you, it probably isn’t what you think, and that is far from a bad thing.
Side 1
Side 1 contains “Lite Dreams,” “Separations,” “The Sound Of My Ceiling Fan,” “Field Of Dreams,” “Kids,” and “Hammer Of The Gods.”
Starting at the beginning, “Lite Dreams” opens with a squealing sound that runs for about 30 seconds before the instruments kick in proper with an impressive cataclysm of guitar work. From there, it’s an additional 30 seconds before the vocals come on. This is an early indicator that Diarrhea Planet knows how to take their time and aren’t in any hurry to get their songs over with. It’s refreshing, especially in the world of punk. Anyways, “Lite Dream” explores the mixed feelings of gaining success in the music business, especially in how some of the fun in making music is lost once money gets involved. With the copious use of the line “Heavy Metal!” throughout the song, there’s also some references to the magazine/animated film of the same name, namely the orb that melts your body the moment you make physical contact with it. This was the track that first introduced me to the band, and man was it a good one to start with! It shows you everything you need to know about the band’s style and what to expect going forward.
“Separations” is described by Jordan Smith as being about his long-distance relationship with a girlfriend and the tough love she showed him during his rough times. The lyrics read like an exchange between the couple, mostly from Smith’s perspective. He worries about his job and the distance between him and his girl, while she assures him that he’ll be fine so long as he keeps going and stops complaining. “The Sound Of My Ceiling Fan” takes the dark undertones of the previous songs and multiplies them. The descriptions of the ceiling fan feel like a metaphor for the apathy brought on by depression and anxiety, and the way it leaves you stuck with no way to move forward. The ceiling fan metaphor could also be more literal, like how those mental roadblocks can leave you lying in bed with no motivation to get up, just staring at the ceiling fan. The instrumentals do an excellent job in adding to the atmosphere, with the way they devolve into a ticking clock sound for the last minute and a half of the track, leaving you in the shoes of the narrator.
“Field Of Dreams” was written by Brent Toler before he joined Diarrhea Planet, and it’s about people forcing their opinions on others and the narrator trying to play peacemaker. Lyrically, it’s not nearly as heavy as the previous songs, so it works as a bit of levity. Instrumentally, it starts lighter as well, but it gains some intensity as the song progresses. With that, “Kids” brings the depression back in full swing, being quoted by Smith as “the most depressing song I’ve ever written.” Smith had gone through a number of heavy issues early in his life, and he wrote this song to capture the tragedy of having to grow up so fast to cope with such things. The tempo is much slower on this track, which aids in the dark, contemplative tone of the lyrics.
Capping off the first side is “Hammer Of The Gods,” which again totally shifts the tone from the previous track. This one is simply about hanging out with your friends and wasting time. It channels more pop-punk energy than the others, which fits the theme like a glove. While I do enjoy some of the darker songs on this album so far, I really like this song and its upbeat tone, and it makes sure that this side doesn’t end on a total downer.
Side 2
Side 2 contains “Ugliest Son,” “White Girls (Student Of The Blues Part 1),” “Togano,” “Enter The Great Gate,” “Babyhead,” Skeleton Head,” and “Emmett’s Vision.”
As the title may imply, “Ugliest Son” was an experiment for Smith to write about “being really evil and really sick, too.” As such, the instrumentals are appropriately broody, almost grungy, and the lyrics are unapologetically dark. “White Girls” lightens up a bit, but still remains fairly dark, being about Emmett Miller’s breakup with a girl who mistreated him. The song’s title was cribbed from the girl’s last name, and also references the song “Orange Girls” from the band’s first album. I appreciate the writing style on this track, reading like a story as opposed to the abstract style of the rest of the record. The narrator is told off by the titular girl, and he can’t stop thinking about it on the drive home.
“Togano” is next, which is loosely inspired by the book Masks by Fumiko Enchi. Smith stated that he wanted this song to sound like it could belong in a movie soundtrack, and it seems like he accomplished his goal. There are far fewer lyrics than usual on display, which would make it easier to edit for cinema purposes than anything else off this album, but it doesn’t feel out of place. It still carries the signature Diarrhea Planet style, just with a few distinctions to stand out. It features a female chant in the chorus to channel the feudal Japanese atmosphere that Smith was going for, and while I don’t think it reaches the goalpost, I still appreciate the attempt.
“Enter The Great Gate” is an instrumental track, so I don’t have much to say about it. It again has a grungy flavor, kind of like “Ugliest Son,” but with more buildup to what comes next. Smooth like butter in probably the best transition between songs I’ve heard in a while, it flows into “Babyhead.” This song is super cheesy in both its instrumentals and its lyrics, which was the intention of Smith going in. He wanted to write something that you’d want to listen to on a jukebox while you’re with your friends. It also serves as a love song for a girl that he didn’t have the guts to confess to, which is painfully relatable. I do love me some cheese in my music sometimes, so “Babyhead” stole my heart the first time I listened to it.
“Skeleton Head” is a sibling song to “Kids” in the sense that they both reflect on the same dark period in Smith’s life. “Skeleton Head” focuses on his sense of isolation when he was living in an unfamiliar part of Nashville. He didn’t know anyone there and spent a lot of time alone, stuck in a place that held bad memories. To me, this feels like a much darker song than “Kids,” especially in the way the instrumentals are handled. It’s quiet and grungy, only intensifying when the lyrics call for it. It stands as an excellent showcase for Diarrhea Planet’s composition and how well it accentuates the mood of their songs.
“Emmett’s Vision” is the final song, and what better way to end than with a song about death? More specifically, the song was written about a funeral home and the little adventure the band had while exploring one after a few drinks. Miller had found a casket that was set up for a funeral the following day and got so freaked out that it inspired him to play a little concerto on guitar for the rest of the band when they got back to their place. It’s a strange and funny story, and the song reflects those feelings. It features a lot of self-reflection about death and the meaning of life, but the upbeat instrumentals give it a tongue-in-cheek tone, as if they’re playing up the fear they felt in the funeral home. Finally, the song caps off with a playful role call that wouldn’t be out of place at a live show, which left me smiling as the record ended.
I’m Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams is a wonderfully varied record that pulls out a lot of surprises and surpasses your expectations for a band with such a humorous name. My top three tracks would be “The Sound Of My Ceiling Fan,” “Hammer Of The Gods,” and “Babyhead.” While I hate to list any of these tracks as bottom tier, there is only one that earns the label: “Togano.”
Rating: 9/10