“Swaying like there’s no ceiling, I feel so absent.”
The eclectic Florida natives, Gouge Away, are, and have always been, a severely underrated group. They lost a bit of steam, as their previous LP was back in 2018, and Covid affected their writing process to the point where any further material almost did not see the light of day. Thankfully, certain stars aligned, interest was maintained, and the band finally recorded their upcoming album, Deep Sage, completely analog and almost entirely live in March 2023. However long and arduous the journey, the end product was absolutely worth it.
Lead single, and opener on the album, “Stuck in a Dream”, immediately plays into the intimate sound of the recording. The drums sound stellar and the composition overall has that garage band tone to it, though also sounding pristine and impressive. “Stuck in a Dream” also preps the listener for vocalist Christina Michelle’s use of repetition in her lyrics. It is prevalent all-over Deep Sage, and used most heavy handedly here, for better or worse. I do feel myself looping a bit with how repetitive it can get, but I also have to award points for that structure lending itself to the song title. Being stuck in a dream is very much repetitive in nature.
Then we get “Maybe Blue” which is pointedly different in tone and style. The band certainly has tracks that are more screamo and emo focused, instead of heavier hardcore cuts, and this is one of them. “Maybe Blue” is also the track the band played during their first show back after hiatus in December 2021; the crowd reacted strongly, and I can see why. It’s is a good example of how good Gouge Away can sound when they’re entirely in their bag. Their best songs show their urgency in sound and unpolished nature, and this is one of many examples on Deep Sage.
Christina is also so advanced as a vocalist, she has this engaging midpoint vocal style between singing and screams and it’s wrought with emotion on top of sounding great. And within this midpoint style, she has a whole range in there as well to really deliver different types of emotions with her voice. The delivery of “Doesn’t this mean, we have a choice not to change?” is particularly impactful for me. And repetition is used for this lyric as well, I should add, and it’s executed better. “Maybe Blue” also has a minimalistic bridge where there are these quaint guitar licks over a chunky bass and hurried drums as Christina lulls the listener with spoken word-esque vocals. Just business as usual for their great song writing.
“A Welcome Change” is aptly titled, as it’s a welcome change in being a softer cut. However, it still excels at what makes all of these songs great listens. I love the more measured rhythm of the song overall, but it really shines once the bridge begins. The instrumental overall picks up pace and gets more experimental, while still sounding like the same song. There’s also some tambourine thrown in which is a nice touch. Then comes the shorter “Overwatering” which returns the more chaotic and dissonant tone of some cuts. We also get another example of repetition with Christina singing “I took the sweetness from the inside.” I wish this one went on for longer, but during its stay, it is engaging. “No Release” is another frenzied cut with some good riffage and brutal vocals by Christina, but also comes and goes with the feeling like it could’ve been developed more. The band has shown they can develop longer songs chock full of fresh and great sounding ideas, so tracks that don’t do that tend to leave me a little disappointed. Take “The Sharpening” for example; it is not my favorite track by any means, as I think it goes deeper in their hardcore roots than I like, and I prefer the screamo/emo ones, but since the track is allowed a longer run time, sections like when the guitar work has this sweeping, pitchy sound to it with Christina putting out these haunting vocals are allowed to fall into place.
“Spaced Out” is kind of the best of both worlds for the spectrum of Gouge Away’s sound, and that’s despite being the shortest track on the album! “I just want to be spaced out, I just need to be spaced out” is such a hook, and the energy on the track is unmatched. We also get plenty of Christina’s trademarked use of repetition once again and it’s perfect here.
The album ends on a very strong note with “Dallas” which makes a case for best song on all of Deep Sage. Every track oozes that urgency and passion I mentioned, but that’s amplified 10x here. The guitar tones are notably more distorted and shoegazey, and Christina’s vocals are more intimate and closer to the mic than normal, even though those aspects can be attributed to her style in general. And for the last time, we get that use of repetition with the word “absent.” And we get another beautiful bridge that is worthy of one of the last sections of the album. The lyrics here are next level emotional and Christina backs that up with her most impassioned performance. The struggles displayed via the lyrics are poignant, melancholy, and dark, painting a picture of suicide before the lyrics switch to at least a brief feeling of regret and second guessing at what would be left behind. There isn’t a true conclusion about these feelings, but life is hardly a black and white affair. It is very much in flux with constant factors and emotional turmoil to wrestle with, so any sentiment expressed in the song that would feel final would be a farce, and I respect the end note because of that. It’s real and this band, as I’ve discussed, is real and urgent and has that ability to put out music that comes across as art that means something, and the music is so much better for it.
Even though I do wish Deep Sage was a bit more fleshed out and a little more consistent, I can’t imagine there being many better albums with this sound coming out for the remainder of the year. This is nearly a masterclass in mixing the emo/hardcore genres, as it takes the best aspects of them and coats that in a paint of urgency and rawness.
8.5/10
You can pre-order Deep Sage here before its release Friday, 3/15 via Deathwish Inc.