Diet Cig

Diet Cig, an alternative rock duo, combine a playful outlook with sincere and accessible songs touching on youth, romance, and daily existence. Their bright, tuneful indie pop carries enough drive to edge toward pop-punk, balancing sharp songwriting with immediate appeal while Alex Luciano’s clear and conversational vocals mesh seamlessly with the energetic arrangements. The pair first drew wide notice in indie circles with the 2017 album Swear I'm Good at This, then returned in 2020 with Do You Wonder About Me?, whose richer production left its hooks undiminished.

Vocalist and guitarist Alex Luciano crossed paths with drummer Noah Bowman in 2014 at a campus gathering at the State University of New York at New Paltz. Bowman was onstage with his band Earl Boykins when Luciano asked him for a lighter. The two connected quickly and soon began writing music together. Luciano already had several songs sketched in acoustic form, yet Bowman encouraged her to try electric guitar—her first experience with the instrument—while adding drums.

During the summer of 2014, after Bowman moved in with engineer Chris Daly, whose past work includes Porches and Quarterbacks, the duo recorded their debut EP, Over Easy, in short order. Quarterbacks frontman Dean Engle then passed the tracks to Jessi Frick, head of Father/Daughter Records, which issued Over Easy in February 2015. The warmly received EP quickly raised the band’s profile.

Diet Cig maintained a near-constant touring schedule through 2015 and 2016, playing across the United States and Europe, pausing only to release the double-sided single “Sleep Talk” and begin work on a full-length debut. Frenchkiss Records released Swear I'm Good at This in 2017, after which the duo embarked on an extensive run of dates throughout Europe, the U.K., and the United States that spanned the next two years.

At the close of 2019 the pair returned to the studio with Christopher Daly, producer of their earlier material, to track a second album. The first results surfaced early in 2020 with the singles “Night Terrors” and “Thriving,” both later included on Do You Wonder About Me?, which Frenchkiss issued in early May 2020.