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Deerhunter, "Fluorescent Grey"
Hot on the heels of their highly praised full-length, Deerhunter drops this new set of stunning pop songs. Concise and catchy, these four tracks reveal remarkable development from their previous outing, further strengthening their growing reputation.
Foregoing some of the atmospherics of Cryptograms, the band opts instead for a more stripped-down approach on much of this material. They still launch into some of the explosions that made that album so memorable, but here these sections are tempered with a bit of restraint.
The title track begins with a piano, and then a guitar takes up the melody. With doubled vocals repeating the phrase "patiently, patiently," the song builds to a haunting finale. Organ, drums, and bass drive "Dr. Glass," the mellow pace a nice contrast to the lyrics depicting useless bodies, both living and dead. Similarly, the dreamy bliss of "Like New" masks references to skeletons and the crypt, suggesting darkness beneath the surface of everyday lives. The only song that sounds like it could have come from the full-length is "Wash Off," which channels the high-octane impulses of that album into an ode to the days of being 16. It's an exciting finale to a set that's over all too soon. As a bonus, a mesmeric video for "Strange Lights" is included on the disc.
While still retaining the aspects that made their previous songs so enjoyable, here the group pushes out in new directions equally as captivating, and in the process highlights ever more facets of their accomplished songwriting.
