Deep State - Heavy Lunch

1.    Who are Deep State?

Deep State are a lo-fi, noise-pop, punk, indie-rock band from Athens, Georgia. Heavy Lunch (May’17) is the second single from their second album THOUGHT GARDEN (April’17). 

2. What kind of tune is Heavy Lunch? 

Heavy Lunch veers between basement punk and noise pop while racing along melodically at full-tit. No frills and energetic. 

3. Who do Deep State sound like? 

BRONCHO, The Libertines, and Cloud Nothings.

4. What have the press got to say?

“A high energy rocker that feels akin to the maxed out, lo-fi sprints of WAVVES” – Punk News.

“A deceptively simple, likely centerpiece single” – Best Of New Orleans.  

“Raw, live sound” – Punk Online. 

5. Which bands have inspired Deep State?

Deep State are influenced by Bruce Springsteen, Devo, Fleetwood Mac, State Champion, and Silver Jews.


6. Why should I give Heavy Lunch a listen?

Because you like lo-fi songs that straddle the noise-pop/punk divide. 


7. What are Deep State's best songs?

No Idea Pt. II  is bracing.


8. Any more words? 

Deep State were signed by Chris Watson to Friendship Fever. Chris Watson discovered Dr Dog.

“Sing me a dirge”

The National are an indie rock/post-punk band from Brooklyn, New York (originally Cincinnati, Ohio). They are very popular, their sixth album was Grammy nominated and their last two albums were top five in the U.S. and worldwide. The National sound similar to Interpol, Joy Division, and Wilco. Their influences are Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and The Smiths. The System Only Dreams In Darkness (May'17) is the lead single from their seventh album Sleep Well Beast (Sept'17) and the tune has a bit more bollocks than their usual shtick.

“The system only dreams in darkness,

What are you hiding from me?”

Gang Of Youths - What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out

1.    Who are Gang Of Youths? 

Gang Of Youths are a popular indie rock band from Sydney, Australia. Their debut album The Positions (2015) made it to number five in the Aussie charts and their E.P. Let Me Be Clear (2016) to number two.

What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out? (Feb’17) is the lead single from Gang Of Youth’s second album Go Farther In Lightness (August’17). 

2. What kind of song is What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out? 

A cacophonous minute of flailing drums and melodious guitar augur a song that contains a firestorm of doubts and a soul in torment. What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out is dark, dense, and fucking intense indie rock; recalling the blood stirring 'death or glory' of early U2. 

3. Who do Gang Of Youths sound like?

Gaslight Anthem, U2, and The National.

4. What have the press said about What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out?

“A relentlessly driving anthem” – Stereogum.

“An epic five minutes of festival-ready rock’n’roll” – Music Feeds.

“Anthemic, frenetic and not wasting a damn second” – The AU Review.

5. Which bands inspired Gang Of Youths?

Their main influences are U2, Bruce Springsteen, Pavement and The Replacements.  


6. Why should I give What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out a listen? 

Because you like songs with the intensity that can turn a turd into a diamond. 


7. What are Gang Of Youths best songs? 

Strange Diseases  and Benevolence Riots are more of the good stuff.


8. Any more words? 

The lead singer, Dave Leaupepe tried to kill himself when he was 22. 

“ ‘Cause I was only a kid,

When I felt you tossed me aside”

The Riptide Movement are a rock band from Dublin, Ireland. They started in 2006 and have four albums. The Riptide Movement sound like Kings Of Leon and Gaslight Anthem. They are influenced by Bruce Springsteen and Creedence Clearwater Revival. It All Works Out (2013) is from The Riptide Movement's third album Getting Through (2014). That album made it to number one on the Irish charts and It All Works Out was the stand out song; a tune The Guardian called “an instantly stirring indie rocker.”

“I’m with you every step of the way,

Tomorrows a new day”