As I mentioned in my review of the Dutch Mustard gig (gig 1,398), it seems that, in another thin “new band” field dominated by hectoring or bored sounding vocalists, or Oasis/ Monkeys rip-off indie landfill, 2025’s brightest new acts seem to come from the distaff side. Primarily female fronted, with myriad musical reference points all within my wheelhouse, and of that ilk, Seattle’s Deep Sea Diver might just be the best of the lot. Flying under the (my?) radar for over a decade now, their 2025, 4th (!) release “Billboard Heart” includes those familiar sonic elements of dreampop, post-punk and thoughtful and cerebral US indie, overlaying a set of intelligently crafted yet eminently listenable and uplifting songs. About time I got on board with them good and proper, so I booked for the Louisiana date on their UK tour before it sold out!
Unsurprisingly (it’s his wheelhouse too!),
Beef had booked separately for this one, so we made plans to travel together.
His turn to drive, so I wandered through the alley to his mum’s house at 6.15
before an easy drive, a red-light run (whoops) and a park-up around the corner.
A quick drink and a chat filled the time before we popped upstairs to grab a
spot a couple of rows back, house right, for the openers at 8. And, happily,
said openers were locals and short-notice replacements Hunny Buzz, who’d
impressed as support to Wings Of Desire some 18 months ago (gig 1,315). Well,
however notable that set was, they took it up a few notches tonight with a considerably
edgier, more acerbic and dynamic set of all-new numbers, whilst retaining their
upbeat, buoyant indie-pop core. Opener “Wish Bone”’s slow burn intro ceded to a
spikier repetitive hook of “seen a lot of boys like you” from striking and authoritative
vocalist Lydia Read; “Car Collision” was a stop-start undulating and tempo changing
old school indie banger with Lydia’s vocal yelp again a feature; and a new
number, “Hey Mary” showed a more understated contemplative side to their indie oeuvre.
Final number “Joyride” eased in gently, gaining momentum along its’ absorbing, tempo
changing, crescendo-laden length to close out a welcome late-shout set from a young
band going places – very soon!
We nudged a little bit forward in this now-packed and sold-out room, ending up with my head practically in the speaker stack by the side of the stage! Deep Sea Diver, led by frontperson and main inspiration Jessica Dobson, took the stage to applause, immediately followed by a reverential hushed silence! Appropriate really, as opener “Billboard Heart” eased in with a similar hushed thoughtful intro before building into its’ more Death Cab For Cutie-esque rhythmic alt-rock melancholic mood, Jessica’s almost angelic soaring vocal a feature. “Emergency”, next up and my favourite number, immediately changed this pastoral mood into a growling, tense and taut NYC 70’s New Wave vibe, Jessica switching vocal tack and coming across strident and almost Patti Smith-like for this definite early set highlight. “Thanks for selling out the show!”, Jessica announced at its’ conclusion; “it’s going to be one of those sweaty gigs – none of you will be spared!”
As per their excellent current “Billboard Heart”
album, Deep Sea Diver “live” are a glory-box collision of various styles within
the overall umbrella of alternative/ indie guitar rock, said mashups often
taking place within the same number, thus leading the listener in a myriad of challenging
and thrilling directions. F’rinstance, the coruscating synth pattern and sheet
metal guitar work of “What Do I Know” blended into an almost dreampop choral
hook; “Wide Awake” featured a lengthy, almost Bob Mould-esque strafing riff intro
leading into a dark, dramatic core; and the crepuscular vibe of “Tiny Threads” was
augmented by a War On Drugs-esque widescreen synth pattern, the band making
ample usage of their 2 banks of keyboards. An odd Q&A session, mainly concerning
the band’s breakfast choices (!) preceded Jessica’s solo yet bolshy “Be Sweet”;
then “Shovel”, Jessica again initially channelling her brooding, “Because The
Night”-era Patti Smith voice before the song broke out into more angular 80’s
synth pop, was another late highlight. Closer “Eyes Are Red”, absorbing and
expansive, saw Jessica venture into the crowd during the guitar riff outro,
rounding off an excellent set from a band difficult to pigeonhole but very easy
to listen to and thoroughly enjoy.
Keyboardist Elliott handed me his list through the side curtain (!) and I got the band (including a besieged, merch stand-bound Jessica) to sign it. Yay! Also chatted to the Hunny Buzz folks, discussing their obvious clear kindred spirits Coach Party (unsurprisingly, they love them and would love a joint tour – hey, me too!), before hitting the road for a quick blast home, following an excellent if unexpected double-header. Maybe 2025 isn’t such a bad year for new bands after all, if Hunny Buzz and Deep Sea Diver are examples to go by!
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