There appears to have been a surge within the waves of modern punk rock in that the constantly updated bouts in technology make professional sounding material more attainable and gives new bands ample leverage for bolstering their debut recordings. On the surface, taking advantage of such accessibility looks like draw back from punk’s long accrued DIY ethos of displaying itself with no shame in its warts. However, through the evolution of convenience implements the creation of different standards of which to break. This is the case for Deafdeafdeaf, Manchester’s newest addition to the expanding list of English punk bands – creating music that, with its vintage caliber, pays ode to the earliest punk rock aficionados.
Currently, Deafdeafdeaf has two songs under their belt with “Bodies” released in October, 2020 and “Nothingness” released the following December. “Bodies” was a strong first outing with its guitars emanating a psychedelic atmosphere and clean, yet, aggressive vocals. “Nothingness”, however, proves wrong any expectation of Deafdeafdeaf being a one-trick pony allowing the guitars a slight upheaval in aggressive output whilst maintaining melodious counterpoints to offset the otherwise rough exterior. It’s not dissimilar to what their piers in Slaves and IDLES are doing – being astute on experimentation for the sake of sonic progression.
Deafdeafdeaf derives from the pedigree of traditional post-punk and post-hardcore and how it has mutated in the modern age. With these promising first encounters, I hold them in high regard that they’ll assimilate their creative assemblage on the grounds of punk as well as outer influence. If they continue down their respective path and stray ever so often, we can be in the wake of some amazing sonic output.
Nothingness is out now, via Disobedient Records
