Depth “Out”
I saw Depth at Pepper Land when I lived in Okayama, Japan around the turn of the millennium. Looking back, I wish I’d gone to a lot more local shows there, but I did see some good touring bands including ZooBombs and the only really great Modest Mouse concert I’ve been to. I’m not sure exactly why I was there to see Depth with my friend Dave, and I’m not even absolutely sure it was at Pepper Land, but they put on a fantastic show and I’m glad Dave bought their album Bare Things and still had it to share with me ten years later.
Depth were a trio who played a heavy and very catchy style of hardcore. The guitar and bass are way up front on the album, and it’s mixed to favor the bass more than a lot of hardcore is. That’s definitely a strength of the record, along with the guttural vocal emanations from small – but not kawaii – women. “Out” is a great example of everything that’s right with the Bare Things, a heavy riff with equally powerful growling that breaks out into an almost vulnerable spoken bit about how “you make me fucking irritate” and then back to the explosive demand to “just get out…OF MY WAY!”
