Impossible Weight by Deep Sea Diver

How is it that Deep Sea Diver, Seattle’s little engine that could, is seemingly everywhere in my area, but barely talked about outside of the Pacific Northwest? Impossible Weight, the band’s third full-length album in their 16+ year history, is utterly fantastic, but if you’re not my neighbor, you’ve probably never even heard of them. The album was #1 on KEXP listener’s Top 90.3 albums of 2020, yet Pitchfork doesn’t have a single article about them. It’s as if we’re watching two parallel universes battle it out right in front of us.

Be that as it may, please now consider yourself part of the inner circle. Now you know. And if you’re a long-time follower, you might have already known, as the band’s debut album appeared on the Top 31 at #23 back in 2012. On top of that, Sharon van Etten (no stranger to the Bacon Top 31), makes an appearance on Impossible Weight’s title song, creating a duet with Deep Sea Diver’s Jessica Dobson that’s entirely overloaded with singing talent. Makes me wonder if Pitchfork, in their lack of recognition of Deep Sea Diver, has a beef to pick with someone related to the band and is being spiteful.

I guess Deep Sea Diver isn’t for everybody, but if you’re a fan of female-led indie rock, you’ll love them. Someday Dobson’s name will be as well known as van Etten, or Barnett, or Phair. Until then, all we can do is enjoy them with additional fervor and shout their name from the rooftops. The rest of the world will catch up eventually.

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1. Saint Cloud by Waxahatchee
2. Fetch The Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple
3. Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers
4. folklore + evermore by Taylor Swift
5. Untitled (Black Is) + Untitled (Rise) by Sault
6. RTJ4 by Run The Jewels
7. Shore by Fleet Foxes
8. Serpentine Prison by Matt Berninger
9. The Ascension by Sufjan Stevens
10. Making a Door Less Open by Car Seat Headrest
11. Dreamland by Glass Animals
12. A Hero’s Death by Fontaines D.C.
13. Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez by Gorillaz
14. Mordechai + Texas Sun EP by Khruangbin
15. Introduction, Presence by Nation of Language
16. Free Love by Sylvan Esso
17. Miss Anthropocene by Grimes
18. 3.15.20 by Childish Gambino
19. Women In Music Pt. III by HAIM
20. The Third Mind by The Third Mind
21. Superstar by Caroline Rose
22. Impossible Weight by Deep Sea Diver
23. We Will Always Love You by The Avalanches
24. Ultra Mono by IDLES
25. Visions of Bodies Being Burned by clipping.
26. Thin Mind by Wolf Parade
27. The Loves of Your Life by Hamilton Leithauser
28. Palo Alto (Live) by Thelonious Monk
29. color theory by Soccer Mommy
30. Fall to Pieces by Tricky
31. Quarantine Casanova by Chromeo

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