I’m a hoarder in every sense of the word — my home is full of ridiculous tchotchkes, my t-shirt drawer won’t close, there are sneakers spilling out and blocking the front door. And the problem is digital, too. My phone is ram-packed with Wizegals and Mod Sun screenshots and pictures of that guy’s eBay listings that are just a bunch of hot sauce. I’m always making piles, both physical and digital, and hoping one day I’ll figure out what to do with them.
One of my favourite piles is my ongoing collection of cool songs that Instagram has served me as sponsored posts. I’ve posted some of them in an ongoing thread, but others escape containment, becoming piles of their own. The song “Old Spice (Eric #1)” by deegie has started one such obsession.
Not since Bonk! Bonk!’s “One Time” has a song so deeply embedded into my brain. The sponsored Instagram post wisely clipped the titular refrain: “The smell of Old Spice still makes me wet.” As a lover of both the Old Spice suite of products and the act of disgusting oversharing, particularly regarding bodily fluids, I needed to know more.
deegie, née Anne DiGiovanni, has lived many lives before she got here. In interviews, she’s been open about her long career as a lawyer (my research shows she worked for one of the major American streaming services) before ditching it all to pursue a life in music, all assisted by her husband, a fellow “fomer lawyer” (as a typo in his LinkedIn banner reads), and main collaborator Joseph Lewczak. He’s a bald man who rocks mall-punk guitars and helps on the production using his alter-ego moniker MoodTown. MoodTown and deegie. An unstoppable force.
Yes, without question, it’s going to be a “deegie summer.” But in order to enjoy these beautiful months together, we first must learn the music of deegie. Thus, I’ve prepared something of a primer to wet our beaks before the big finale. Let’s dig in to deegie.
Only Bricks “Contact High”
Jos: Before we can understand deegie, we first must understand where she came from. I don’t know much about streaming service law, so we’ll save the presumed ups and downs of her legal career for the inevitable deegie tell-all. But post-courtroom, deegie and MoodTown first risked it all on a pop group called Only Bricks. Not sure why they chose that moniker, but I think they were kinda onto something. With its muted sonic palette, “Contact High” is a cute little electropop tune. MoodTown is afraid to let his beautiful shiny head breathe, and deegie is still just Anne — there’s no punk edge whatsoever. But in terms of a nice little background song, it could have easily been placed in a streaming service rom-com. And you know these lawyer rockers would have indemnified the hell out of it.
Sam: You could slip this onto numerous albums I have passively enjoyed over the last ten years and I wouldn’t notice anything was amiss. “Only Bricks” is super weird as a name, though. Why not “Nothing But Net” or “3-Point Revolution”? More inspiring! Still, you can tell deegie has the juice. MoodTown, I am sorry to say, seems like he belongs behind the curtain. But given that Josiah sent me the song that started this all a few days ago and I didn’t actually listen to it, I’m excited to go on this journey in real time just like the rest of you.
deegie “Like a Guy”
Jos: True heads already know that the deegie we know and love first peeked out on Only Bricks’ “Smile, It’s Over :)”, but just over a year later the rebrand officially took place with “Like a Guy.” Yet despite its high production value, particularly in its music video, the song still suggests an artist struggling to be born. It’s a little atonal, it’s a little edgy in the wrong ways, it’s good but not quite there yet. Sharing the song on LinkedIn, MoodTown explained that “transitioning from a legal career to an artistic life has been harder than I could have ever imagined,” which may explain some of the unfocused energy. Ever the marketer, he added that the song was “serendipitously coinciding with the new Barbie movie” as it “eviscerates the gendered double standard that persists in dating and heterosexuality.” Certainly, the song sees deegie eviscerate norms, albeit much hornier than Barbie as she sings “Boy you're not the one, what's it gonna be? / Cause I've had enough of this serial monogamy / Get me out of this cycle / I wanna fuck like a guy-y-y-y.” It’s also fascinating as it presents questions about deegie’s relationship to MoodTown. Or is deegie the singer a different persona than that of Anne. And if so, what of Joseph and MoodTown?
Sam: “Sorry / not sorry / I’m just using you for your body.” Damn, deegie! I appreciate how the fantasy sequence ends with the boy toy singing the chorus AT her. Is the lesson that if we seek only to subvert gender norms – rather than erase them – we are doomed to an endless cycle of misery and subjugation at the hands of lawyers’ transition to artistic lives? Bloops at the end, gotta love it.
deegie “Scraps (Cleland)”
Jos: It wasn’t until the EXES song cycle that deegie really found her oeuvre. The EP, delivered via a series of singles and mid-budget music videos (which begs the question of who’s paying and how much, although the dual lawyer careers must’ve created a nice nest egg), each given a title as well as a parenthetical name of an ex, not to mention their individual single art which includes polaroids of deegie with each ex, his face literally exed out. Yes, this is a deeply considered and multi-faceted art project, and it shows deegie finding her voice and shredding it. A song called “Scraps (Cleland)” by an artist named deegie is certainly a mouthful, and this isn’t even the best on Exes, but it does have some nice sprinkly guitars and a Simple Plan bounce. It also contains my second favourite deegie lyric:
Early in her career but already deep into her life (I presume she’s early 40s), deegie has certainly been a victim of ageism in her comment section. But this is an example of where her age makes her a more interesting artist. Most pop-punk artists are playing music for, and perhaps by, pre-teens, so they’d normally lean on innuendo at this part. But because deegie has seen it all (in this case, faced the wall), she’s able to just tell it like it is. And it makes for hilariously unexpected directness.
Sam: Listen I have been known to smoke a weed or too but I’m not entirely sure about this line: “Swear I don't need a ring except the kind on the phone / I know you struggle to dial when you're constantly stoned.” While I support deegie clapping back in the comments, I do think it’s a little odd to hear a contemporary pop song describe a phone “ringing,” which would be an insane thing to hear in 2024. I also don’t know how much “dialling” anyone is doing these days, what with our contact lists and clickable links when we need to order from the local Greek place (shout out Souvlaki Emporium specifically the gyro wraps) and whatnot.
deegie “The One (Dan)”
Jos: As a rule, I usually just like ballads. Whether it’s the Smashing Pumpkins or the Notwist or some third band I’ve listened to (can’t think beyond deegie rn), the slow songs are always the best ones. And had I not first been delighted by the concept of Old Spice making someone wet, I might’ve chosen “The One” as my fav deegie. It’s just genuinely a really good rock ballad, building from its sad prom scene to a full-on belter. There are no nasty sex lines, although she does sing “Zoo trip dream state, were you already / Trapped like the pandas, stuck in my cage?” which is definitely weird as hell.
Sam: If you squint this song could go on the I Saw the TV Glow soundtrack and at this moment that is the highest praise I can offer a song. Was waiting to have something funnier to say about it but Josiah’s right, it’s just a good ballad that we both like. Bring back the nasty sex lines, tho!
deegie “Old Spice (Eric #1)”
Jos: When we went to Toronto in February, I forgot to pack my deodorant. Which, I think, for some people is no big deal, but for me is a massive emergency. Hilariously, rather than re-up at Shoppers Drug Mart, I popped into my favourite streetwear store and got a bougie Salt & Stone roller. It’s probably the first natural deodorant that has ever worked on me, but I have to apply it every few hours and it’s too expensive for that. So I’m back to bulk buying Old Spice. In an ideal world, I’d have a different stick in every room of my house, as well as my car and every bag. I love Swagger, I’ve enjoyed Captain and Champion, Wolfthorn and Bearglove are okay. But they’re all getting so expensive, so I’m back to Original, which is sometimes on sale. Point is, I’m an Old Spice head. It doesn’t quite make me wet, but in an asexual way I do enjoy the scent.
In a way it makes sense that the titillating titular Old Spice line is technically the prechorus, its delicious prose working like the arousal fluid for the climactic chorus. Wisely, deegie chose this line to promote the single on Instagram. In fact, she continues to tag the brand in all of her posts about the song. Could they possibly be brave enough to team up with deegie for an ad campaign about the aphrodisiacal qualities of their product?
Either way, that line hooks you in to what is an absolute belter of a summer anthem, a true mall-punk anthem with lush strings and a Sum 41-esque riff from Joseph. Yes, the song really goes from MoodTown to bonetown. And I love it so much.
Sam: Hahahaha oh my god dude it really is great. I’m so grateful that you unmute Instagram to watch whatever is promoted to you because this IS the song of the summer. What a chorus! Gotta say “buying deodorant at a streetwear store because you forgot yours” sounds like someone busting your balls or riffing on “Josiah-coded behaviour.” For the record I DO have deodorant stashed everywhere just like you’ve described. I’m living your dream and can confirm it rocks.
BONUS COVERS: “The One (Dan)”/“Old Spice (Eric #1)”
Jos: I’m almost ready to share a project I’ve been working on for a very, very long time with a handful of collaborators from the pod. The project has meant regular check-ins with my drum gurus Ned and Caleb, but our work chat has turned into something of a live deegie update feed. We’re constantly chatting about our favourite deegie songs, our favourite MoodTown looks, our hopes and dreams for the future of the deegie fandom. Anyway, we couldn’t help ourselves, so we covered two deegie songs, and you can hear them both now. All three of us are on “Old Spice,” and it’s just Ned and Caleb performing as Fernet Branca on “The One.”
Sam: I would say this is astonishing, but the idea that you got distracted from finishing your own (various) project(s) to record two covers in what I am pretty sure is three or four days is actually not remotely astonishing. I don’t know what I was expecting from “Old Spice (Eric #1),” but this sure wasn’t it. Is this what Mount Erie sounds like? I feel like you could link up with your old pal Phil with this sound. “The One (Dan)” is so nice. Are you going to send these to deegie? Do you think you’re going to become friends? Will you get to hear new deegies before they go out to the public? Your future is so exciting.
