Deerhunter

A busy year for frontman Bradford Cox, 2008 included the release of his debut album with Atlas Sound, followed by this third LP from Deerhunter. The tiring schedule may be just what the eccentric Cox needed; Microcastle is steady, condensed and more fluid than either of his band's previous releases. Cox's stoney, distant chants resonate as if they were coming deep from within a cave, while squalls of pulsating fuzz trade off spotlight time with dreamy, ambient echoes. Think hazy shades of My Bloody Valentine being filtered through a tender Velvet Underground melody.

Bradford Cox, the lanky leader of Atlanta psych-garage band Deerhunter, looks like a
combination of Stephen Malkmus and Thurston Moore, and sounds like it too, writing
angular pop melodies that jut into ambient fuzzscapes. On the group's third album, the
usually extroverted singer, known for sporting dresses onstage, seems to be withdrawing,
embracing a more delicate, acid-dipped sound. Microcastle has only one rave-u... More >