DeepEr

A Chicago quartet called Deeper fuses jagged post-punk with spare, sophisticated indie rock, an approach that has brought the group national acclaim. The band’s first full-length arrived in 2018, after which its sound continued to shift on the dark, synth-heavy Auto-Pain in 2020 and the stylistically wider Careful!, issued by Sub Pop in 2023.

By 2014 Deeper already held semi-established footing on the strength of several surf pop-oriented demos when founding co-leader Caroline Campbell left without warning. Nic Gohl (vocals/guitar), Mike Clawson (guitar), and Shiraz Bhatti (drums) elected to keep the name, recruited bassist Drew McBride, and redirected the music toward the refined guitar rock heard on the debut single “Transmogrified.” Performing regularly in Chicagoland clubs and basements, the quartet spent 2015 and 2016 sharpening its style before signing with Brooklyn indie Fire Talk Records. After a year of touring new material, the group tracked its self-titled debut late in 2017 and released it the following spring. Two years later Auto-Pain introduced synths while addressing mental-health themes.

Barred from touring during the pandemic, Deeper returned to the studio and used the period to broaden its sonic range. Early in 2023 the band joined Sub Pop and unveiled “Sub,” a lean, wiry single built on interlocking guitar figures that signaled the next phase. Careful!, its third album and first for the label, appeared that September; while nodding to the first two records, the set also explored neon pop, straight-ahead rock & roll, and a love song.