Whether you call it post-punk, new wave or alt rock, Deeper’s has it all and more. Three months following their Free at Noon performance back in February, when they played the World Cafe Live music hall, the XPN artist to watch returned to NON-COMM — and I’m sure gained more fans in the process.
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. They played “Lake Song” next with its smeared synthesizers and an aggro tone that bled into the complexity of Bhatti’s drum skills. 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.
Their breakout concept album Auto-Pain, attempts to reckon with worldwide disaster and chaos released amongst the disarray of 2020, and showcases some of their best work, including fan favorite Esoteric that sound like a straight up David Byrne hit, reciting lyrics in an alternately disaffected or tightly wound voice.
At the back half of their set we heard “Everynight,” where McBride traded his lead guitar for the synth, transitioning their sound from a mix of Joy Division, Fontaines D.C., and Do Nothing influences into a rich, synth-heavy, new wave. The second half of the song slowly crescendoed into a claustrophobic sounding darkwave finish. “Bite” was direct, in its no-frills approach to punk; it was raw and straightforward with drummer Bhatti as its guide. They finished with Auto-Pain’s last single “The Knife,” as they did at their Free at Noon, showing that as much as Deeper grows, some things never change.