From funerals to friendship, stolen sweaters to takin’ it to the streets, the Brooklyn band provides a track-by-track breakdown of their brand-new record
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I was first introduced to Deep Wimp via their March 2020 debut EP, Please Party for Me—a title that, in a year when we were all lacking reasons and ways to celebrate, would end up making for pretty much the perfect plea.
While the record was worthy of a total rager complete with all the sex/drugs/rock-n-roll party staples (ice-cream cake, moon bounce… maybe a pony and a piñata), given the releases’s timing, that—like everything else—um, didn’t happen. But while the band couldn’t play, they did get to work, collaborating and creating long-distance on new material. And now, a little over year following the EP release, I’m stoked to present and premiere what they’ve been busy working on together, while apart.
This is People Are Young These Days—the brand-new // very rad record from Deep Wimp!
Leading up to the release, the Brooklyn band sent me some intel on the record and their writing and recording process—a period of heavy creation in the wake of a lot of cancellation:
“After the pandemic disrupted our plans to play a bunch of shows in support of our first EP—including our release show at Rough Trade (scheduled for March 19, 2020)—we decided to get to work on some new songs. Now after a year of writing, trading demos, and recording almost everything entirely remotely, our first full-length album, People Are Young These Days, is ready to be heard. It was super weird and challenging making an album without being able to get together and practice the songs, but we like the result. Still, let’s never do it this way again.”
The Deep Wimp dudes were also kind enough to offer a full-on breakdown of the record’s eight tracks, describing themes of complication and celebration—of life, a little love, friendship and self.
PEOPLE ARE YOUNG THESE DAYS—TRACK BY TRACK:
“No-Touch Football“
“It’s a slow build of an opener, so please don’t X out 20 seconds in. We thought it’d be fun to open the album with both vocalists splitting the song to give an idea of what’s ahead. It was written in June 2020 about the competing feelings of wanting to participate in the racial justice protests while dealing with the anxiety of the pandemic and urge to stay isolated.” -Charlie
“Karaoke Funeral”
“I was watching the Elliott Smith documentary Heaven Adores You when I came up with the lyric ‘Far gone, this conclusion is foregone.’ And then Elliott got me thinking about my friend Nate, another gone-too-soon musical genius. Nate’s funeral was really unique; his family set up all his guitars, basses and drums and invited everyone to jam. Even though there is a verse about him in the song, I took that concept and applied it to the fictional ‘neighbor lady’ in the first verse.” – Trevor
“Sweater“
“This song is about your partner stealing your sweater, and it actually includes said partner on backup vocals. More broadly, it’s about worrying that you’re losing your individuality in a relationship as the lines between you and your partner blur, but then realizing that’s actually pretty cool if you’re in a healthy, chill relationship where you help each other grow. The sweater in question has yet to be returned.” -Charlie
“You Again“
“Constantly comparing yourself to other people can get brutal. But feelin’ yourself is always gratifying. It’s a struggle, but aim for the latter when you can.” – Trevor
“Empath“
“Speaking of feelin’ yourself, this one is just a silly pop song about a silly pickup line that got stuck in my head and pretty much had to go into a song. The whole thing is super cheesy already, so just imagine if Trevor let me keep the harmonica in the recording.” -Charlie
“Avery“
“This was inspired by a friend who was coming out of a terrible relationship, very much a victim being viewed as a villain by her ex’s family. The whole thing was infuriating, but I think this song turned out kinda poppy and lighthearted because that’s truer to her spirit—she was never the angry and loud one in the situation. Oh, and the name is fictional, of course.” – Trevor
“People Are Young“
“The phrase ‘people are young these days’ just popped into my head out of the blue, and I thought it was funny and worthy of having a song built around it. I took some vague inspiration from two friends who have a strange but strong friendship that’s occasionally complicated by intense feelings. For whatever reason, we all agreed that it made sense for this to just be called ‘People Are Young’ while the album title is the full “People Are Young These Days.” – Trevor
“Hey Genesee“
“Our oldest song of the bunch, and all-time closer. We wanted to get kind of crazy with dynamics, sort of playing with expectations. We like to think it sounds like what it’s about: watching someone close to you go through hard times and not knowing a way to help other than picking them up and blasting some of your old favorite tunes. Hope you blast this one, too.” – Charlie & Wesley
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People Are Young These Days is out NOW! And in this, the year of our lord (or whatever) 2021, rather than partying for Deep Wimp, I’m really hoping to party with them—
They’ll provide the soundtrack; I’ll bring the piñata.
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Follow Deep Wimp at @deepwimp, grab their music on bandcamp and add them to your Spotify playlists now!
Feature image provided by the band.