Track of the Moment- Monomania by Deerhunter

Well this is a surprise. Deerhunter have been consistently good across their career, but not in the way that their new track Monomania is. The song really shakes things up in a good way and frankly it kicks ass. Who knew they could kick ass? Deerhunter’s frontman Bradford Cox has always expressed an affinity for aversive punk music, but it has never really made its way into his songs quite like it seems to on Monomania, which has Cox yelping and growling where normally he would coo and croon. At the same time its not that much of a departure from previous records, I don’t see anyone who liked Halcyon Digest being thinking that this is too different to like. More importantly though, if  this new angle did upset fans, Cox and the Deerhunter crew probably wouldn’t care, and hey, isn’t that what rock ‘n roll is all about? This makes me pretty excited to hear the new album, of which Monomania is the title track, and the thing will be released sometime later this year.

 

Track of the Moment- Helicopter by Deerhunter

Its been over a year since I bought my copy of Deerhunter’s latest album Halcyon Digest and it remains to date my favorite album by them, and one of my favorite albums of the past decade. What made the album so great to me was that it was an album about rediscovering. What’s more, it’s about rediscovering what is good in life and in music that I first heard when I was first discovering those same things. What I like most about this album compared to the bands previous output, is the pure levels of emotion that run through it. It perfectly straddles the talent of all of the members of the band, but most specifically Bradford Cox and Lockett Pundt. Both those guys have successful solo careers outside of Deerhunter, and both have a voice that goes well with each other’s sounds, it’s just so impressive how well the record catches not only the sound of both men, but also the emotions. On songs where Cox seems distant, Pundt’s lofty guitar parts are warmly familiar, when Pundt seems terminally chill, Cox mixes things up, all the while with Moses Archuleta and Josh Fauver keeping them honest. It’s a good dynamic to be sure. My favorite stand alone track from the record continues to be Helicopter, which is just so damn good. I will admit though that He Would of Laughed, the final song in tribute to the bands longtime friend Jay Raetard still makes me sad, and that the album is just so much more gratifying when listened to as a whole, but for now enjoy Helicopter. Also, I saw this video at the Hans once!