WXPN welcomed a packed house to World Cafe Friday to watch the Artist to Watch alums Deeper share an early performance at this week’s Free at Noon show. The audience left with a deeper appreciation of the band, as well as the experience of seeing a show in the middle of the day.
Deeper released their third album Careful! in fall of last year, and they kicked off their set with that album’s first track “Build a Bridge.” It’s a heavy track full of hooks and pulsating beats from drummer Shiraz Bhatti and bassist Kevin Fairbairn; the rhythm section’s contribution made the song come alive. Through their sound was pretty consistent throughout the performance, the beginning of the next song, “Willing” showcased more of their experimental side before fizzling into a more contained rock sound inviting lead singer Nic Gohl to shout out, “It’s the willingness to ignore,” in his Scary Monsters-era Bowie vocal tone. The earnest line comes from the concept album Auto-Pain that attempts to reckon with worldwide disaster and chaos released amongst the disarray of 2020. .
Deeper is currently on a short run of shows in DC and NY, and Philly being the sweet spot between the two made for a perfect opportunity for them to stop by before they headed to SUNY Purchase Student Center Friday to play songs like “Airplane Air” off the new record. It stands out with its distorted lead guitar solo delivered by Drew McBride and showcases the vocal layering between the drummer, bassist and rhythm guitarist singing, “couldn’t relate” in tandem. The second half of their set let the complexity of Bhatti’s drum skills shine, on the track “Sub” he played like an energetic kid on a playground exploring every inch of the kit creating unique percussion textures. It was truly hard to take your eyes off his playing.
With their set coming to an end, deeper had one more surprise in their back pocket, in the new track “Everynight.” McBride retired his lead guitar and occupied the synth which transformed their Joy Division, Fontaines DC and Do Nothing sonic landscape into a new wave leaning synth-y soundscape. The second half of the song slowly corsendos into a claustrophobic sounding darkwave finish. They concluded this mid-day performance with a thank you to the audience and signed off with a big ole “We are Deeper from Chicago” before playing Auto-Pain’s last single “The Knife.” Check out photos from the show below, and find out more about Deeper at the band’s website.