Patience or Fear

"Deep Tissue are poison-tipped, layered in thrifted velvet and plucked from a stash of rusting, ornate dragon-handled knives-- a punk band whose zeal and fervor for a passionately lived life is cloaked in a shimmery, cobalt and onyx darkness. Their debut full length record, Patience or Fear (Play Alone Records) crashes with ringing gaze-y guitars and jagged post-punk melancholy, an immersive soundtrack to the darkest dream sequence in your favorite 90’s auteur film. Formed in the summer of 2017 and consisting of five of your weirdest Philadelphia friends-- Lauren Leilani Iona (vox), Shaun Nelson (guitar), Geoff Smith (guitar), Arthur Wurt (bass), Adam Moffitt (drums)-- their sweeping, charged and emotional hooks, cavernous rhythms and tribal instincts sweep you away on a tidal wave of euphoric goth-tinged bliss. From the sobering opener “Mood Swing”, through the dirgey, chaotic swell of “Condolensces”, to the dance-able, effortless pop of “Daisy Chained”, DT crashes the basement show afterparty sleepover like a Sisters of Mercy/Throwing Muses supergroup wired on cheap corner bodega Sanka, armed with a Ouija board and a dusty copy of Desperately Seeking Susan on VHS. “It’s a blessing and a curse,” Iona sings langorously, “a love undying that always hurts.” An eerie sentiment perfectly encapsulating life in chaotic times. Patience or Fear won’t notarize your stimulus checks or solve your vampire problem, but in this distorted future you can trust Deep Tissue, a band that rises through like a crystallized flower left to bloom in the glass-strewn, and fallow fields of creeping dystopia." - Alex Smith