Deerhunter : Microcastle :: Review
Deerhunter’s new album “Microcastle” is quite a departure from its predecessor “Cryptograms.” The reason that this album is a departure is because it is a lot more immediate than their previous works. The album starts off with ambient sounds on “Cover Me Slowly” before abruptly shifting into full band mode on “Agoraphobia.” Current single, “Never Stops” sounds like something the Pixies might have forgotten to include on “Surfer Rosa,” which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“Little Kids” is a perfect slab of dream pop with just the right amount of sweeping distortion. The title track, “Microcastle” begins with a chorus-laden guitar and watery vocals before transitioning into a full Jesus and Mary Chain styled melody. Deerhunter preserve their ambient style with several songs before returning to the rock fold of “Nothing Ever Happened.”
On this album, there’s even room for an acoustic number, “Saved By Old Times” which references the sound collages and experiments in the lyrics. Album closers “Neither Of Us, Uncertainly” and “Twilight At Carbon Lake” shimmer appropriately in a spacey kind of way.
With this album, the bleeps and bloops that inhabit Deerhunter’s songs are no longer the main focus. Deerhunter is less abstract than they were before but experimental elements still creep into their approach to song writing. Deerhunter sounds more like a band now than an experiment in sound, and I think that’s a step in the right direction.
High Recommendation.
