Destroyer : Kaputt :: First Thoughts
It’s a Saturday night and I’m posting random thoughts on Destroyer’s latest, “Kaputt” which should tell you something about the nightlife in the greater Cincinnati area. Meanwhile, in the other room, someone is watching “It’s Complicated.” If that’s not enough to drive someone from the living room, I don’t know what is. Regardless, Dan Bejar’s latest is a saxophone and soft jazz driven ode to an America that doesn’t seem to exist anymore. “Kaputt” reminds me of a Bowie album that might have gotten shelved in the mid 80’s right around the time of Bowie’s big film breakthrough “Labyrinth.”
“Chinatown” kicks things off with a midtempo and spacey melody that meshes into the gooey and non descript “Blue Eyes” which finds Bejar justifying his songwriting like a mantra with the lines, “I write poetry for myself, I write poetry myself” ad infinitum. “Savage Night at the Opera” follows and reminds me of Scritti Politti or something that Simple Minds might have tossed aside twenty years ago. Did I just type Scritti Politti? How often are they referenced anymore? The 8-½ minute ambient keyboard and saxophone-laden exploration dedicated to the American Artist Walker, “Suicide Demo for Kara Walker” is almost too much for my brain to contemplate the complexities of on this dull Saturday night while I have two cats interrupting with their fighting.
The album picks up slightly again with the title track, “Kaputt” which is familiar and slightly dull considering the first three tracks sounded exactly like it. Maybe I’m not picking up on the lyrics or the repetitious tones of the melodious saxophone. The saxophone just might be one of my least favorite instruments and the jazziness of this album is getting to me. “Downtown” starts promisingly but ends with a jazz/saxophone interlude…Ugh…I can’t get away from it. “Song for America” follows suit. Album closer “Bay of Pigs” makes a slight return with its plinky-plonk atmospherics for 5 minutes before divulging into a full on acoustic guitar jazz odyssey complete with pseudo windstorm. Awesome, right?
“Kaputt” is a little monotonous but it’s not totally offensive. “Kaputt” is the type of album that I would dig out if I was in the mood to read a book or have something playing that I could ignore. It’s almost like aural wallpaper and I know that’s not the point either. Shit, what a dilemma. “Kaputt” will be released by Merge on January 25th, 2011. Maybe I’ll make up my mind on a solid review by that date but until then see the stars below.
Rating: 
