“hipper than thou” rock

The Deep Vibration is a rock and roll band playing American music. In a time when it might be more popular to play pitch perfected pop or distanced, “hipper than thou” rock, their sound calls a listener back to a stark simplicity and authenticity. A lean and gritty four-piece, The Deep Vibration has surprised Nashville with their heartfelt explorations and maturity, earned from years of listening and learning from the classics.

With an arsenal of Americana tinged rock songs, the band recorded live onto 8 track one-inch tape at Nashville’s Masterlink Studios for their first EP, Vercruz. At the helm were Niko Bolas (Neil Young, My Morning Jacket) and Rob Clark (Neil Young), who took care to faithfully capture The Deep Vibration’s naturally classic aesthetic. Matt Campbell’s eccentrically soulful vocals pierce and tremble over the band’s driving stomp led by Jeremy Fetzer, whose jolting guitar work in “Thanks To You” and “Oklahoma City Woman Blues” plays out like a thoughtful combination of Neil Young’s edginess and the quirky rock endeavors of Wilco’s Nels Cline. Binder and Herbert provide the combustive impact behind “Third day of July” and a primitive elegance in “Mississippi Women”. The EP is verdant with rich tones, driving rhythms, sly orchestrations and serves as the proper introduction to the band* loud, rock solid, and strangely spiritual. Appropriately skidding to a halt, Veracruz’s bookend gem “Tennessee rose” features Gillian Welch’s graceful harmonies accompanying the tale of a sojourner whose mind lingers at home with his love, as stated in American songwriter magazine, “Tennessee rose” is one of those songs that makes you stop what you’re doing, and, like the great American songs, outs an original voice in a pair of very old shoes. “The Deep Vibration are walking in those shoes of American musical tradition and taking them to strange, new places. They have “it”, that inarguable authenticity that accompanies music not made out of will or want, but whose creation and existence is simply necessary. To have “it” in such a city, at such a time, is no easy feat; leaving no doubt that soon the deep vibration will be felt everywhere.

[Review 1]
Let no one claim that these Nashville roots-rockers lack energy or elasticity. Lead man Matt Campbell caterwauls like his bolo tie is on fire half the time, then chokes up and trembles through the sort of balladry truest when written in Music City. Board work from former ‘Neil Young’ attendants and vocal treatment from ‘Gillian Welch’ lily-gild a lineage well paid forward on this debut.

[Review 2]
Early tie for 2009 are Nashville based foursome The Deep Vibration, so named by Lou Reed, when they approached him after a show last year. They look like the beardy backwoods sons of ‘The Band’, but sound like ‘Neil Young’ propping up the bar with ‘Richmond Fontaine’. Five-track EP “Veracruz” is a weather bitten beauty, Matt Campbell’s wobbly voice like ‘Neil’ in full prairie mode on “Third Day Of July”, messed up by distorted’ guitar. Guests include ‘Spooner Oldham’, pedal steel veteran ‘Al Perkins’ and ‘Gillian Welch’, who adds vocals to standout “Tennessee Rose”.

[Review 3]
Over the course of Veracruz, Campbell’s quivering falsetto ricochets around emotions, choking up one moment, then getting the wind knocked out of him the next. A slew of influences creeps out of his pipes, be it ‘Young’, ‘Springsteen’, ‘Jeff Tweedy’ or ‘Thom Yorke’, but they’re channeled with care and seemingly without consciousness.

[Review 4]
They got their name from ‘Lou Reed’, but their scruffy roots-rock is way more ‘Wilco’.

[Review 5]
Neil Young’s angsty children.. Swaggering. Roving. Biting. Soul-dosing. The heart of the Y-generation.. The Deep Vibration.

[Review 6]
Reminds me a bit of ‘Wilco’ in their early days.. The Deep Vibration are really classic traditionalists. ‘Nick Lowe’ has a name for this: They call it rock.

[Review 7]
Front man Matt Campbell mixes the high-pitched cry of ‘Neil Young’, the androgynous whine of ‘Tom Verlaine’, and the sweet lyricism of ‘Gram Parsons’, and the chugging, intertwined guitars give the music an appealing post-Stones strut – all of which is a long way of saying The Deep Vibration reminds me of ‘Uncle Tupelo’.

[Review 8]
Like ‘My Morning Jacket’ before them, The Deep Vibration out of Nashville, Tennessee, have lovingly strip-mined the music of country-rock pioneers such as ‘the Flying Burrito Brothers’ and ‘the Band’ and succeeded in sculpting a sound that’s as fresh as it is familiar.