EP2 is the second EP from Cindygod the new project from former Gauntlet Hair members Andy Rauworth and Craig Nice out July 10th 2020 on Fire Talk. Stereogum noted 2018’s EP1 filled with “new wave shimmers and hooks… a sort of ramshackle and scrappy charm.” The new EP doubles down on the hollowed-out saccharine sound of Rauworth’s recent work, while retaining glitchy agitated electronics that pierce together the best of dream pop, post-punk and indie nostalgia. Fans of Gauntlet Hair rejoice! Cindygod is an honest creative extension of some of those original ideas, a little darker & sinister around the edges.

EP2 is the second EP from Cindygod the new project from former Gauntlet Hair members Andy Rauworth and Craig Nice out July 10th 2020 on Fire Talk. Stereogum noted 2018’s EP1 filled with “new wave shimmers and hooks… a sort of ramshackle and scrappy charm.” The new EP doubles down on the hollowed-out saccharine sound of Rauworth’s recent work, while retaining glitchy agitated electronics that pierce together the best of dream pop, post-punk and indie nostalgia. Fans of Gauntlet Hair rejoice! Cindygod is an honest creative extension of some of those original ideas, a little darker & sinister around the edges.

Get Cindygod’s Demos EP on Pink in Clear Vinyl originally released on Pon Pon bundled with EP on Pink Cassette.

What do you do when pain blots out joy? How do you learn to take care of yourself? What happens when the things you think are helping end up doing the most harm? 'Auto-Pain' is the Sophomore album from Deeper, a record that finds the band embracing open space, using synths to create shadows where bricks of guitars once would’ve blocked out the sun. The group — singer and guitarist Nic Gohl, bassist Drew McBride, and drummer Shiraz Bhatti — were all graduates of Chicago’s rich DIY scene who came together around their love of Wire, Devo, Gang of Four, and Television. While the new record is still within the Great Lakes post-punk tradition of their debut, the album isn’t as insular as its predecessor; it’s less interested in pile-driving and more willing to dwell in liminal spaces. Guitars enter the picture precisely, locked bass grooves propel things forward. Drummer Shiraz Bhatti, who is half-Pakistani and half-Native American, embraced the drumming patterns he’d heard growing up at pow-wows, channeling the anxieties of his heritage into his playing and keeping the group grounded when they switch into all-out percussive attack. The result is an album both more nuanced and catchy.

Auto-Pain represents the constant wave of depression felt by many in everyday life. Stemmed from Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’, Auto-Pain is a concept meant to be an inverse to soma, a pill in the book which makes everything numb. The idea of auto-pain is to epitomize the desire to return to a connection with thoughts and clarity, which comes at the expense of feeling everything simultaneously. The album artwork features the now-demolished Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago capturing the band’s rounded-off brutalism, and the album title appears in Urdu, a nod to drummer Shiraz Bhatti’s Pakistani heritage. The record was recorded and mixed by Chicago scene luminary Dave Vetraino (Lala Lala, Dehd) and mastered at Chicago Mastering by Greg Obis (Ne-Hi, Melkbelly).

• A portion of the proceeds from Auto-Pain will be donated to Hope For The Day an organization that actively works to break the silence surrounding mental health.