Deep Cuts is ONE featuring Rongo Rongo, Jo Mary, Pale Rider, Mamatung and more

Buyers Club – Deep Cuts at ONE

Deep Cuts celebrates a first birthday with nine bands, DJs and a real swell party at Buyers Club, Getintothis’ Lauren Wise and Peter Goodbody were there to soak up the contagious vitality.

A line up brimming with new music and irrepressible energy on a Friday night in Liverpool can only mean one thing – you probably won’t remember much of what happened the next day.

Deep Cuts is ONE checked both of these boxes as well as being held in an independent venue (Buyers Club) with some discounted ale. You can’t ask for much more when it comes to taking away your mid-January blues.

The celebrations were in full swing at what turned out the be the busiest Deep Cuts ever seen, creating an even more electric atmosphere in anticipation for some of the most exciting bands Merseyside has to offer.

On arrival it’s clear that everyone’s celebrating already – whether it’s because of Deep Cuts’ birthday or because they’ve given up trying to stick to dry January is unknown. However, with the customary chalkboard declaring ‘the mutha fuckin’ birthday edition…‘ it set the tone for a riotous night at Buyers.

First on the agenda was Bill Nickson, the Wirral-based singer/songwriter growing a steady following.

His mellow indie/pop brings the catchiness of The Magic Gang together with the melancholy of Mac DeMarco, creating a chilled-out atmosphere to warm up the room. However, in a break from tradition, Bill dispensed with the acoustic guitar and went full blown ‘electric’ with his band – we’re pretty sure it was akin to the time Dylan did the same. Defo.

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With the room reaching fever pitch,Eyesore & the Jinx ramp things up a further notch with jerking rhythms and ferociously gruff vocals. Characteristic of the evening’s ethos, Deep Cuts brought a true variety of styles from across Liverpool‘s new music landscape proving the city is far from a one trick indie-pop pony.

Taking a spiritual turn is the arrival of Mamatung to the stage. While we had firmly been rooted in Buyers Club up until this point, Mamatung had a transcendent effect on the audience, plucking us up one by one and taking us on a journey of chants, harmonies and instruments we won’t pretend we know the name of. One defo looked like a massive shell. Whether this was rescued from Crosby beach, we didn’t get to find out.

With the night now without a doubt in full swing, King Hannah and Pale Rider play sets that are similarly pensive and poignant; the former rich in gothic doom and swelling to mesmeric bluesy finales, the latter cementing their status as one of the city’s best new bands with I Run On Rain a mind-crashing mountain of riffs and bass wrecking-balls contrasting aside more experimental numbers which seemingly trade off Can, Grails and the more out-there sounds of Black Angels.

The ever-energetic Jo Mary take their posts to perform one of their classic spirited, audience-included, clothes-removed, sets with Ash leaving the stage to buy the band drinks before clambering on top of the bar only to receive a swift telling off from staff.

The crème de la crème of the evening is RongoRongo, launching their brand-new single Euclid amid a set of progressive doomy pop. After what proved to be an intense, exciting and animated night, we can only wait for what Deep Cuts is TWO will bring.

The next Deep Cuts will be on February 8 at Buyers Club featuring Wild Fruit Art Collective, Yammerer, Beija Flo and Caveparty – full details here.

Photos by Dan Hewitson, Warren Millar, Andy Sunley and Peter Goodbody.