Deerhunter

DEERHUNTER!!!           

In 2006, Deerhunter became a big name in hipster circles due to the very-warm reception of their album Cryptograms by the blogger community and it’s 8.9 “Best New Music” review, courtesy of hype-powerhouse site, Pitchfork.com. Luckily, it was mostly deserved.

Another push-factor was outspoken front-man, Bradford Cox. Cox suffers from a disease called Marfan Syndrome, which caused his limbs to grow to be long, lanky and spindly. Standing at 6’4, Cox never shied away from the fact that he looks kind of different. He even used to wear dresses when performing, which only made him stand out more.

His love-him-or-hate-him personality matched his appearance in it’s grandiose weirdness and made him a notable interview-y that year, drawing an enormous amount of attention to his blog (http://deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com/), which then became the stuff of legend. Reported on by pitchfork just about daily, there he posts new songs and playlists constantly for free download. His opinions are also free, as yes, you are entitled to them.

Though Cox’s use of the internet as a tool of promotion and expression is one great example of the benefits it has afforded us in our new society, none of it all would matter much if the music wasn’t good. As I said before, it is. Not only is it good, but it’s as interesting as he is. Though he acts as spokesman for the band, members Moses Archuleta, Lockett Pundt, Joshua Fauver and Whitney Petty all write and work to make it the great unit it is. Together, they as Deerhunter create beautiful, experimental and sometimes disturbing shoegaze-inflicted dream pop that nods to krautrock, electronic music and bubblegum pop.

The new album, Microcastle, is even more-so all of the above. It’s their loveliest, most melodic and densely constructed album and acts as the logical next-step after Cryptograms and (Cox’s solo project) Atlas Sound’s Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel. Is it going to start cracking the pop-charts? No, because those things are fucking retarded- but regardless. With it’s beautiful anthems of alienation, it’s going to gain the already infamous Cox more followers and fans.

Not only is this good for the band, but it’s good for society to have more of his sort of anti-rock stars. Only in the surreal field of rock music do we see the freaks become the kings. Like Joey Ramone, Morrisey and Johnny Rotten before him, Cox is shoving his existence in the face of the world and if they don’t like it: they can fuck the fuck off. 

www.myspace.com/deerhunter