Seattle Subsonic

Surprise! Deerhunter Wows Me

November 24th, 2008

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Well, not really. I pretty much expected to be laid on my ass by Deerhunter‘s thoughtful barrage of sound when I headed to Neumos this past Friday night (11/21). But with a catalogue of intricately crafted ambient pop songs (and non-songs) that sound best through headphones with distant eyes, I was a tad unsure whether the experience would translate to a live setting. Fortunately, the pleasant surprise came in the form of a well-rounded and enjoyable set from the Atlanta quintet that I’ve no doubt fell in love with (I ain’t shy).
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Deerhunter, and more specifically Bradford Cox, has built a solid following with elegant punk and alluring, artsy garage-pop that sounds neither aged nor contemporary, neither here nor there. In fact, with song titles like “Cryptograms” and “Vox Celeste” and a general leaning towards the atmospheric, it makes one wonder whether their music might be from another time and place altogether. But the backbone of the band’s songwriting, in my opinion, continues to be the beautiful, hypnotic repetition found in much of their work; the continuous rhythms that drive each song from one parallel to the next. Cryptograms, in particular, is rife with such methodology. Microcastle/Weird Era Continued, their latest dual LP, continues to persist this trademark technique, but the focus on cleaner voice and crisper guitar melodies is much more evident.
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The band arrived to a stark stage and healthy cheers, four guitarists (one bass) in a row and drummer Moses Archuleta set back in the shadows. Cox, who suffers from a rare connective tissue disease known as Marfan Syndrome, was even taller and lankier than I anticipated. Having never seen the band perform before, it was decidedly awesome to hear older tunes “Cryptograms” and “Lake Somerset” right off the bat. They would even throw in “Octet” later on and my favorite, “Heatherwood”, during the encore. Many of the more conventional songs from the new record would dominate the rest of the set, including “Little Kids”, “Never Stops”, the exciting “Nothing Ever Happened”, “Microcastle”, and “Saved by Old Times”. If I were to attend this show to hear one and one lyric only, it would be from that last song: “We were captured by / Victorian Vampires / with elaborate designs!” Oh, the imagery!
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At one point, someone from the crowd yelled out “Marietta!”, referring to Atlanta’s “rival” city. Cox, ever the outcast, responded, “Yeah, we beat you guys pretty good in football, if I remember. But I didn’t really pay attention to that stuff—I was too busy suckin’ dick.” Pretty sure everyone was caught off guard by that one. Whitney Penny, the band’s new Rock Star guitarist, was a complete contrast from the rest of the shy-guy band (bassist Josh Fauver and other guitarist Lockett Pundt, in particular) as she enthusiastically played to the crowd, often sticking the neck of her huge hollow body into the hands of the front row and devil-horning the shit out of her fingers.
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“Calvalry Scars II” rounded out the pre-encore set list, which is as gorgeous as it is dissonant. Cox set aside his bright blue Fender mid-song to merrily pound on a glockenspiel. “Agoraphobia” and Microcastle‘s closing track “Twilight at Carbon Lake” finished off the night.
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More pedantic blithering (and photos) about openers Past Lives and Times New Viking after the jump.
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Times New Viking, from the “blue state of Ohio!”, were a sprightly garage punk trio that sounded a lot like Mates of State. Their fast-paced ramshackle songs were adequate; they didn’t wow me and they didn’t bore me. Some of their tunes were fun and catchy, others were kind of mediocre. Past Lives, whom I’ve seen twice before, continue to improve their moody, meteoric punk machinations. Devin Welch is easily one my favorite guitarists right now, and the way he prances about in his old-timey sailor cap, as if upon hot coals, makes me smile. Ditto to drummer Mark Gajadhar (sans prancing and sailor cap), who could probably carry literally any band he wanted to.
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Anyway, if you’re not already, get into Deerhunter. I promise you pleasure.
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