{"id":6852,"date":"2013-04-22T20:14:33","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T00:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=6852"},"modified":"2015-11-08T21:09:29","modified_gmt":"2015-11-09T02:09:29","slug":"album-review-deerhunter-monomania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=6852","title":{"rendered":"Album review: Deerhunter – Monomania"},"content":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Matt Juniper<\/a><\/p>\n

Artist:<\/strong> Deerhunter
\nRelease:<\/strong> Monomania (2013)
\nLabel:<\/strong> 4AD
\nRating:<\/strong> 3 \/ 5<\/p>\n

\"Deerhunter-Monomania\"<\/a>Bradford Cox is one of those artists you either get or you don’t. Even those that DO get him often didn’t at first. I eventually\u00a0ended up loving the\u00a0frantic garage rock sound on ‘Cryptograms’, but my initial reaction was indifference. Only after falling for the surprising move to modern shoegaze on the front half of ‘Microcastle’ did my interest start to grow in Deerhunter\u2019s catalogue. I have now grown fond of most of Deerhunter\u2019s discography as well as albums from side projects Atlas Sound and Lotus Plaza.<\/p>\n

Come 2010, I thought I had figured Cox & Co. out. But ‘Halcyon Digest’ offered another dramatic shift in sound, primarily the introduction of otherworldly production quite unlike anything I have ever heard before. Lead single Helicopter<\/i> remains to this day one of the more deeply moving pieces of music I have heard, yet I am really unable to say why.
\n<\/code><\/p>\n

So, this year\u2019s release of ‘Monomania’\u00a0<\/i>is also surprising in that for the first time in Deerhunter\u2019s career, it really doesn\u2019t include any surprises. This is particularly disappointing given this is one of the longest periods of hiatus the band has gone through between albums in its history. Gone is the uniquely alien sound of ‘Halcyon Digest,’ replaced with lo-fi production and garage rock sound throwing back to the days of ‘Cryptograms‘<\/i>. Unlike that record, this doesn\u2019t really stick with any particular theme musically. Deerhunter have always been an album band but this feels more like a collection of songs than a cohesive unit.<\/p>\n

That said, even without the consistency of past work, the album isn\u2019t without major strengths; Leather Jacket II<\/i>\u00a0turns up the feedback for a rock and roll number that will make your hair stand on end. On Pensacola,<\/i>\u00a0Cox does his best Dylan and it works better than I ever could have imagined. The Missing<\/i>\u00a0and Nitebike<\/i>\u00a0remind us why ‘Halcyon Digest’ was so good\u00a0 – inserting a healthy dose of raw emotion in to the mix. And title track Monomania<\/i>\u00a0packs a ruthless punch, calling to mind the song structure of Deerhunter\u2019s breakout hit Nothing Ever Happened<\/i>\u00a0with a more vicious edge.<\/p>\n

Listen to Monomania<\/em> via YouTube below.<\/p>\n

[youtube_sc url=”http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bYUENZQ84-E” theme=”light”]<\/p>\n

The album lags a bit in the middle. It\u2019s odd because these tracks do what Deerhunter often does best \u2013 a simple, looping riff that becomes almost hypnotic as it waxes and wanes. Here this formula seems to isolate the listener from the track instead of pulling them in.<\/p>\n

The bottom line seems to be that this is a minor work from one of the more important indie rock acts of the last decade. For those still struggling to figure out what the fuss about with Bradford Cox, I would not make ‘Monomania’ a priority. Those already on board will find plenty to enjoy along the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Matt Juniper Artist: Deerhunter Release: Monomania (2013) Label: 4AD Rating: 3 \/ 5 Bradford Cox is one of those artists you either get or you […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[28,30,33],"tags":[1989,1990,976],"class_list":["post-6852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-new-release","category-review","tag-deerhunter","tag-monomania","tag-review-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/deerhunter-promo.jpg?fit=630%2C362","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2B2TV-1Mw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34993,"url":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=34993","url_meta":{"origin":6852,"position":0},"title":"Draag covers Deerhunter classic \u2018Nothing Ever Happened\u2019","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"October 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"LA indie-shoegaze quintet\u00a0Draag\u00a0shared their version of\u00a0Deerhunter\u2019s modern classic Nothing Ever Happened ahead their\u00a0\u2018Covers\u2019\u00a0EP\u00a0out\u00a0October 9.\u00a0The track follows previous singles Lansing (Vinyl Williams),\u00a0Loro (Pinback),\u00a0and\u00a0Clube Da Esquina N\u00b02\u00a0(Milton Nascimento and L\u00f4 Borges).\u00a0The project also features versions of songs by\u00a0Throbbing Gristle\u00a0and\u00a0Goon. 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