Chicago band Deeper release their new album, Auto-Pain, this Friday and they’ve just shared one last appetizer before we can hear the whole thing. “The Knife” is a jagged post-punk ripper, moody and measured, that comes with a genuinely excellent, equally tense music video set in an auto garage. Deeper play mechanics who have an taut standoff with their overpowering boss. Auto pain, indeed. You can watch that below and order your copy of Auto-Pain here.
Deeper were on tour with Montreal’s Corridor when the coronavirus pandemic took hold and they’re now back at home in Chicago. (The NYC show was great.) We’d originally asked them to send us a playlist of what they were listening to on tour, but that has morphed a bit, as the band’s Drew McBride tells us:
At the beginning of February we started a four-month tour for our new record and watched everything around covid-19 slowly escalate from the road. On a day off in New Orleans, though, things began to rapidly change, so we made the call to cancel the remaining dates and head home. Even at the time we wondered if we were being overly cautious, but with each passing hour on the drive back more news started to break emphasizing the gravity of the situation. So here we are, days into “social distancing”, and honestly, being cooped up indoors isn’t unlike being stuck in the van for 14 hours – you find yourself with lots of time to check out new music, listen back to favorites, and tap into weird, random shit to pass the time. Here are some songs we were bumping on tour, but now find ourselves listening to as we imagine we’re back on the road.
Deeper’s playlist includes songs from Yves Tumor, Kendrick Lamar, Dry Cleaning, Adele, Shawty Pimp & Reddog, Cate Le Bon, and more. Check it out, complete with insightful, witty commentary, below.
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DEEPER – WHAT WE LISTENED TO IN THE VAN WHEN WE COULD TOUR
Jon Pardi — “Heartache Medication”
On a drive from Chicago to Durham, North Carolina we heard “Heartache Medication” in a gas station. It got stuck in our heads and we ended up bumping it on repeat. We all kind of went insane listening to it and now know all the words start to finish. Listen to this 100 times and you will know what tour does to your brain.
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Adele — “Skyfall”
When Billie Eilish’s new James Bond theme song dropped, we were in the rural UK on tour and decided to check it out. There’s so much down time on tour, we ended up debating the best contemporary Bond theme songs and landed with “Skyfall”. Honorable mention for Radiohead’s track that got scrapped too.
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Yves Tumor — “Gospel for a New Century”
We’re all huge fans of Yves Tumor and are very excited for the new record. This is the lead single and we’ve been playing it a ton in the van. Caught them last winter when they played at The Art Institute of Chicago and they were fantastic. Bummed to be missing the Chicago show while we’re on tour.
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Dry Cleaning — “Dog Proposal”
The label “post-punk” is endlessly thrown around these days, but Dry Cleaning stands out above the static. Love Florence Shaw’s vocals on this and how they incorporate the acoustic guitar to jangle it up a bit more. Would love to play some shows with them.
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Too Free — “ATM”
Drew caught our buds Dehd playing in DC and Too Free happened to be playing also. Their live show is so solid and “ATM” is a straight banger. Stoked for their record to come out, the entire thing is really solid. Too Free is gonna blow up.
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Shawty Pimp, Reddog — “GOTTA MAKE A KILLIN”
This song gets us hyped and reminds us to keep grinding for that paper. The vocals are a bit blown out and it makes the track feel even smoother. Whole thing just grooves.
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draag me — “There Is a Party Where I’m Going”
Zack Schwartz weaves all these patchworks of textures together in Spirit of the Beehive and this solo record is really sick. Influences seem to range from 100 gecs to Nine Inch Nails and it all works together really well. “There Is a Party Where I’m Going” has a dope beat, but it’s the vocals with detuned synths that keep us locked.
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Kendrick Lamar — “King Kunta”
We listen to Kendrick Lamar probably the most of any artist in the van. The last month or so we’ve been on a kick with To Pimp a Butterfly. “King Kunta” just hits so hard.
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Against All Logic — “Fantasy”
Nicolas Jaar is making some of the most interesting electronic music right now and his more beat-focused work under the Against All Logic moniker is really sick. Where his first record focused more on upbeat tracks with chopped soul samples, this one has more fucked up, distorted beats and songs that are more unhinged. The album opener “Fantasy” has a dope Beyoncé sample and just sets the mood for what follows.
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Cate Le Bon, Group Listening, Ed Dowie — “Here It Comes Again”
This EP just dropped, but we’ve been digging it a ton. It reimagines some tunes from Cate Le Bon’s great record Reward, but in a downtempo manner that emphasizes the cool arrangements even more.“Here It Comes Again” sounds entirely new on this version with all the woodwinds added to it. Care Le Bon is a huge favorite of the band, she’s a bit of a hero.
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