Deerhunter
Hometown: Atlanta, GA USA
From Atlanta, Georgia, the origins of Deerhunter can be traced back to when
frontman Bradford Cox first met guitarist Lockett Pundt at high school. Over the years, drummer Moses Archuleta and bassist Josh Fauver were all recruited, while guitarists Colin Mee and Whitney Petty also played with the band at various
points.
Deerhunter’s first album was a lo-fi experiment not initially intended for the wider world, but appeared in 2005 on a local Atlanta label, Stickfigure. Although officially untitled, it has since become known as Turn It Up, Faggot; a phrase that doesn’t actually appear on the sleeve but is an insult that Cox claimed was often thrown at the band during their early gigs. Their next album, Cryptograms (2006), was generally considered to be their real debut and as such things started to get serious for the band. They had moved to fêted Chicago indie, Kranky (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Low, Stars Of The Lid), and the world outside was starting to pay attention. Then in mid-2008, Deerhunter and Kranky signed a deal with 4AD, allowing them to finally release music outside the US and the band’s next move was to prove epic in more than just musical terms.
Recorded over the course of a week at the Rare Book Studios in Brooklyn, NY, the Can and Wire-inspired Microcastle (2008) was to propel them to further heights. However, the album leaked four months before release, leading the band back to the studio to record Weird Era Cont., an album in its own right added as a bonus disc to make Microcastle a 25-track colossus. Not content with such prolificacy, the band announced a new five track EP, Rainwater Cassette Exchange, in 2009 and that its release would coincide with the band’s extensive European, Japanese and Australian tour in May and June.
Displaying few signs of slowing down, Halcyon Digest, the band’s fourth studio album was released in September 2010. Remaining in their native Georgia to piece together the album, Halcyon Digest took just a few weeks to complete. The recording sessions took place at Chase Park Transduction in Athens with Ben H. Allen helping to co-produce the album, while final track, ‘He Would Have Laughed’, was recorded separately by Bradford Cox at NOTOWN SOUND in Marietta. To announce the release, the band fully embraced the DIY mindset of their New Wave heroes from the 70’s and 80’s with a Cox-designed, cut-and-paste Xeroxed flyer. It’s with these kind of approaches that Deerhunter continue to widen their sphere of influence and impress with each subsequent release.
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TheOwlMag on Deerhunter
14 days agoDeerhunter Monomania [4AD Records}
“Connie Lungpin” is the name Deerhunter front man Bradford Cox called himself before a Jimmy Fallon appearance a few months ago. Wearing a terrible black wig and a bandaged hand (in honor of his father who lost his fingertips in a recent table saw accident). The band debuted “Monomania,” the title track of their new record, and new persona. Loud and messy, it would be a sign of things to come.
After the brilliant Microcastle and the sublimely balanced Halycon Digigest, Deerhunter’s fifth album is confrontational and rowdy. “Neon Junkyard” starts the album with spooky guitar chords and Bradford growling through filters. Feedback squeals and a record plays in reverse.
The band has always had the ability to balance experimental punk rock sensibilities with ’60s influenced pop psychedelia. Here the harmonies are few and far between. Most of the songs would sound great on a dive bar jukebox. It’s challenging, and even fans that have followed the band through their different sounds over the years will be surprised that they can make bad ass country record, “Pensecola.” It’s confident and brash, and wholly embraces a southern garage rock sound which is befitting of the band’s Atlanta roots. Cox sings “I came from the Delta down to the plains. When I got back home there was nothing I’d arranged. The woman that I love done took another man. Well nothing ever ends up quite like you planned. Whoo!” Even without bassist Josh Fauver, the band sounds awesome in its new setting. It’s classic Americana rock ‘n roll, in both movement and theme. “Nitebike” is the only moment where the band breaks the “Connie Lungpin” leather jacket motorcycle persona. Here Cox reverts to a persona familiar to his Atlas Sound fans. He’s still growling, but he’s cautious again. Without his mates backing him up and giving him confidence, Cox is suddenly vulnerable with only his acoustic guitar. Pensive and feeling isolated, it’s a familiar theme for him, and the lone connection to his past work in both Deerhunter, and Atlas Sound.
“Punk (LA Vie Anterieure)” finishes the album, and attempts to reconcile different identities for both Cox and the band “For a month I was punk, for a week I was weak, help me find some release.” In the past, a new Deerhunter phase was to be treated with seriousness and reverance but with Monomania, the guys are changing again, and this time they’re having fun with it.
more at theowlmag.comPitchfork Best Albums on Deerhunter
18 days agoAlbum "Monomania" scored 8.3
On Deerhunter’s swaggering fifth album, Monomania, they almost completely jettison the dreamy ambience that usually characterizes their work in favor of straight-up raw, bleeding garage rock, p...
more at pitchfork.comPitchfork Best Albums on Deerhunter
9 months agoAlbum "Cryptograms" scored 8.9
This Atlanta five-piece's shimmering Kranky debut is alternately murky and ethereal, drawing equal influence from classic shoegaze, early Factory Records LPs, and the enigmatic ambient recordings with...
more at pitchfork.comPitchfork Best Albums on Deerhunter
9 months agoAlbum "Fluorescent Grey EP" scored 8.8
Nearly three months have passed since Atlanta psych-rock quintet Deerhunter released their mammoth second full-length, Cryptograms. Now, Kranky is putting out the Fluorescent Grey EP, a set of four i...
more at pitchfork.comPitchfork Best Albums on Deerhunter
9 months agoAlbum "Microcastle / Weird Era Cont." scored 9.2
Microcastle and its bonus disc, Weird Era Cont., sidestep much of the art-damaged squall of previous Deerhunter records, but they don't embrace 1950s and 60s pop as dramatically as lead singer Bradfor...
more at pitchfork.comPitchfork Best Albums on Deerhunter
9 months agoAlbum "Halcyon Digest" scored 9.2
Halcyon Digest is a record about the joy of music discovery, the thrill of listening for the first time to a potential future favorite, and that sense of boundless possibility when you're still innoce...
more at pitchfork.comcovertcuriosity on Deerhunter
over 2 years agoDeerhunter recorded their fourth album, effort, Halcyon Digest, over a two week period in the band’s hometown of Athens, GA. more at blogspot.com
covertcuriosity on Deerhunter
over 2 years agoDeerhunter will return with their fourth LP, Halcyon Digest, on September 28 via 4AD. more at blogspot.com
covertcuriosity on Deerhunter
over 2 years agoThere are some strong moments on the soon-to-be-released album by Atlas Sound, aka Bradford Cox from Deerhunter. more at blogspot.com
covertcuriosity on Deerhunter
over 2 years agoThere are some strong moments on the soon-to-be-released album by Atlas Sound, aka Bradford Cox from Deerhunter. more at blogspot.com
covertcuriosity on Deerhunter
over 2 years agoBradford Cox and Noah Lennox should collaborate more often. more at blogspot.com
covertcuriosity on Deerhunter
over 2 years agoFresh from the oven, aka my inbox, here is Simian Mobile Disco applying their own touches to the subdued ambience of Deerhunter's "Octet." The original recording is found on the 2007 album Cryptograms. more at blogspot.com
covertcuriosity on Deerhunter
over 2 years agoIt's a shame that Bradford Cox seems to keep failing at the internet. more at blogspot.com
covertcuriosity on Deerhunter
over 2 years agoI am so diggin on the new Deerhunter album (officially released in October via Kranky); it’s definitely one of my favorite 2008 releases thus far. more at blogspot.com