Review Summary: On their Sub Pop debut, Deeper can’t seem to sort the synth gems from the duds.
Chicago indie punks Deeper have been on my radar since 2020’s Auto-Pain, which, while it didn’t do a whole lot to stand out in the already-overcrowded Bandcamp art-ish punk scene, was still a solid collection of “dance-songs-for-people-too-cool-for-dance-songs” songs. Going back to that album in preparation for this review, I was surprised at how much of it still held up. It also made it all the more clear that Careful! is a step down more than anything.
As the review summary notes, this is the band’s first full-length on famous alternative label Sub Pop, which was already a bad sign to me. Sub Pop has a bad habit of signing good acts and turning them into fairly mediocre 3/5s. I know that’s probably an unpopular opinion and acknowledge that it’s complete nonsense, but it’s a trend I’ve noticed. And judging by my rating, you’d probably guess that the curse has once again reared it’s ugly head. The opening tracks “Building a Bridge” and “Heat Lamp” definitely seem to suggest that. While not bad by any stretch, a grooveless, mid-tempo track and a filler ambient piece don’t exactly inspire confidence. But then you get to album highlight “Glare,” which seems to be closer to a more standard Deeper angled art punk jam. But after that point, the album switches from high gear to low. And I do mean “low.” Deeper’s Bandcamp references and draws comparisons to David Bowie’s Low for the track “Tele,” which, what a comparison to make. I suppose if you really squint your ears and scrunch your eyes, you could see it, what with the synths and all. But to my ears, this track plays less like Bowie and more like mid-80s synthpop sludge.
Careful! continues a path laid out by their last release: more moody, and more willing to experiment with their sound. And those desires do come to the surface at times. Tracks like “Fame,” with its messy sax solos and bare-bones percussion, ended up as one of my favorites off the album. But then you have stuff like the aforementioned “Heat Lamp” and “Pilsen 4th;” both fairly unsubstantial ambient songs that just end up feeling more unnecessary than anything. Though, I suppose both of those would be better than “devil-loc,” which is easily the worst song on the album and probably the band’s worst to date. Another instrumental, it plays like a child’s first experiments with a music production application. And unlike the other two throwaway ambient tracks, this one’s a near-3-minute slog.
Typically, this would be the part where I say that trimming the fat would’ve saved the album for me, but that really isn’t the case here. For the most part, Careful! is an album that hovers around the passable range, with some anomalies (in either direction) thrown in for good measure. And while I do like it well enough, it pales in comparison to even their last record. I’m sure this album has and will have it’s fans, and that’s fine. But for me, this seems like a good time for the group to reassess so they can try to do a better job separating the wheat from the chaff next go around. Just looking out.
