Deviate the Plan: “Addiction” – a self-assured affirmation of quintessential hard rock
Formed in Tampa, Florida in August of 2014, Deviate the Plan (DTP) is composed of vocalist and guitarist Chris Whipple, drummer Jake Jansen, and bassist Carson Schaller. Originally starting out as a cover band named Milk Chicken, the band performed covers from artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Foo Fighters, Metallica, and more throughout the Tampa Bay area before disbanding. The new project, born out of the previous formation, quickly set to work releasing their first demo in early 2016 – a ten track long player of original material, and began gigging regularly to support its release and build their fan base.
By the end of the same year, Deviate the Plan were headlining venues, supporting national touring acts such as Saliva, Burn Halo, and Nova Rex, as well as taking part in industry showcases, all while managing themselves. Subsequently Deviate the Plan released their self-titled debut album which spawned two popular singles, the rocker, “Addiction”, and the ballad, “Falling Without You.” In the meantime the band had also been awarded the “Best Up and Coming Rock Act” from the Tampa Bay Music Network.
Deviate the Plan are one of those bands whose records should rightly receive two ratings: one for those with a casual interest, and one for fans. The Tampa-trio are on the outset of building an illustrious career on a particular brand of power rock, and it’s something at which they undeniably excel.
You know what you’re getting with Deviate the Plan: seething guitar tones, neck-snapping groove, and grating vocal cords against angst-ridden lyrics. Playing with an inborn ferocity and purpose, the band’s material gels quickly, providing Chris Whipple’s dense, melodic grooves and brooding subject matter a gritty luster and room to breathe.
“Addiction” is Deviate the Plan at their very best, a gripping and self-assured affirmation of a quintessential hard rock band in peak form. The band is fully in the driver’s seat and taking advantage of this freedom. This is one of those songs that speaks to hopelessness while striving for hope.
I can see listening to this after a bad day in an effort to improve it. Honestly, it reminds me of something you’d hear from The Foo Fighters. The building guitar makes the heart soar. Everything about this song screams classic, iconic rock. It’s hard and scathing, while also carrying you along on a tide of beautiful music.
It’s clear from listening to tracks like “Addiction”, and others off their debut, such as “Innocence”, “Knock me Down”, “Livin Like I’m Dying” and “Go Away”, that they’re really flexing their muscles and making the music they want to play. Intricate guitar work, engaging rhythms, as well as relevant lyrical content, Deviate the Plan takes to task the adventure of combining heavy riffs with equally heavy drums, thumping basslines, and a disciplined loudness that shakes these tracks from beneath their foundation.
Deviate the Plan will no doubt make a name for themselves being dirty and deliberate in their playing; the balance between the controlled and chaotic and the precise and fine-tuned seems to be in stasis in the band’s music.
With their new album due for release somewhere between December-January, we can expect to get more of the same, if not better than the same. Which would indicate that Deviate the Plan has moved to a whole new level of underground rock greatness!
Surprised I haven’t heard of them before, they remind me of 90s to present and have great style.