SHOW REVIEW/PHOTOS: Grocer, Godcaster, Deeper at Johnny Brenda’s

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WRITTEN BY: Will Kirkpatrick

PHOTOS BY: Erika Cutaia

Fresher, scarier, tighter: Three more words that end in -er to describe these bands. Comedic nature of a bill with three half-rhymes aside. The show presented on September 28, 2023, was filled with the sound of 21^st century rock. The music’s time signatures are odder, sounds more experimental, and grooves precisely cemented. In an age where the borders between genres are blurred and the answer to what is rock becoming less clear, these bands put on a show that defines rock as whatever you want. 

Philadelphia’s own Grocer began the night. The three piece becomes more than a power trio when all three members join in harmony. Their compositions are rhythmically driven and Cody Nelson, drums and vocals, keeps them together as they weave in and out of rhythmic dissonance. The simplicity of Nicholas Rahn, guitar, and Danielle Lovier, bass, provides the ears with a safe place to sit while Nelson leaves no part of the drum kit untouched, even his sample pad, which he uses sparingly to fill in gaps left from their stripped back line-up. 

Chirping birds and egg shaker begin “Mating Call.” It is peaceful and leaves the intro feeling settled, but the drums come in and knocks you with a time signature that my untrained ears could not suss out. Nelson’s ability to maintain the beat and sing is a feat. 

Nelson got a break before “Smooth Operator,” but only to change his cymbal. The intro: hi-hat clicking, sticks tapping on the drum’s rim, Lovier’s arrhythmic bass, and Rahn sliding between two high chords explodes into a shout singing circus leader calliope waltz that doesn’t seem to find a place to settle. 

Lovier introduced a song about how much work sucks and ended with exclaiming the audience did not have to work tomorrow. For the Temple students in the crowd and a lucky few scattered in there that was the truth, regardless of the unfortunate circumstances. Grocer’s set was solid and sold the listener the groceries, but the front loaded setlist left a bit to be desired by the end. 

Wikipedia says Godcaster is from Philadelphia—they formed as Godcaster while in Philadelphia—but they really are a Brooklyn band. The sextet is a dismal chaotic flower that blew the roof off of Johnny Brenda’s.  

From the roots laid out in their debut record Long Haired Locust marketing them as a modern take on early Talking Heads, they set out for a new sound. “Many of the brighter, bouncier elements found and fiercely executed on Long Haired Locusts and the Saltergasp EP have been all but buried and traded in for something heavier” is written in the bandcamp description of their second record titled Godcaster. 

“We would perform this [Long Haired Locusts] record live and do a lot of elements from this [their self-titled LP] and people seemed to like it and I like it too. We would perform these stupid songs and it would kind of make me cry because we would go off on these tangents, and I wanted to write songs that sound like that [Long Haired Locust],” said Judson Kolk, vocalist and guitarist of Godcaster. Heavier is exactly what these songs are, and they don’t need a van full of guitar pedals to do that. Bruce Ebersole, guitarist, said their guitar tones on stage are relatively clean.  
 

During “Diadactic Flashing Antidote” David McFaul sings like a flashing neon sign—confounded, confounded, confounded, confounded. The middle—and most of this over 10-minute song—is occupied by a hypnotic interlude only occupied by Jan Fontana’s thumping bass and Sam Pickard’s ritualistic drums. As Kolk danced like a statue through the audience back onto the stage then into the audience every movement was calculated and demanded attention. 

The whole show was filled with noise. The cacophony of their instruments and the heckles of audience members who may have taken a wrong turn at Johnny Brenda’s lower bar. Even when the dust settled during “Pluto Shoots his Gaze into the Sun” it was hard to avert your eyes while Von Kolk, guitar and vocals, belted out the bands only ballad of the night. 

Deeper, Chicago’s very own, blends post-punk with indie rock, or is it indie rock came from post-punk. Regardless, their pop driven take on post punk ended the night with fun. Nic Gohl, lead singer, delivers the lyrics in a wonderful way. It is hard to pinpoint but the timbre of his voice is a mix of: Gang of Four, Devo, The Clash, The Cure, and (to throw a hail mary) Bruce Springsteen. The first two are explicitly named as influences on the group. 

They are on tour with Godcaster supporting their third record Careful! and played a mix of tunes from that record and the pervious, Auto-Pain. “Everynight” saw Drew McBride, guitar, take on the synth which injected the song with joyous pop energy that only a cute synth part can add. All of this was juxtaposed by their static outro that hung the audience over a ledge. 

“Spray Paint” was a crowd favorite and by this point in the show the rust in the joints loosened and dancing ensued. Followed by “Airplane Air” which brought about a soundscape that gracefully melted into “Sub.”

Looking at the night a few days after the mix of genres within rock seems odd. Math-rock, art-rock, post-punk all together. But that is the state of rock today, so many influences and styles have made the music less homogenous.  

Setlists: 

Grocer: 

1. Arts and Lit 

2. Mating Call 

3. Pack Rat 

4. Downtown Side 

5. Smooth Operator 

6. Callingout 

7. Blue Goose 

8. Bless Me 

9. Pick a Way 

Godcaster: 

1. Diamond’s Shining Face 

2. Death’s Dead Eyed Hawkmoth 

3. Didactic Flashing Antidote 

4. Pluto Shoots his Gaze into the Sun 

5. Vivian Heck 

6. Draw Breath Cry Out 

Deeper: 

1. This Heat 

2. Build a Bridge 

3. Everynight 

4. Willing Lake Song 

5. Spary Paint 

6. Airplane Air 

7. Sub 

8. V.M.C. 

9. Helena’s Flowers 

10. Bite 

11. Pressure 

12. The Knife