Deerhunter Are Gaining Power

Toronto, ON

Lee's Palace

Noah Love (CHARTattack)

11/13/2008 4:18pm

Have you ever felt like you're the only one who gets it in regards to a band? Like you're the only one who really knows how good a band are and your attempts to convert your friends are met with rolled eyes and sarcasm? Truthfully, this has only happened once to me and it's with Deerhunter. I still haven't figured out what's not to like. Their songs are amazing, their frontman is intriguing and, even without the gimmickry, they still put on one of the best shows of the year.

At odds with the slick headlining performance were openers Times New Viking. I'll say this for the group's show: I can actually listen to it. I like the songs on their latest release, Rip It Off, quite a bit. But the hideous lo-fi production scrapes the eardrums like gum surgery.

TNV are a completely different beast in concert, though I'm not sure a better one musically. Adam Elliott and Beth Murphy's tandem shouted vocals are reminiscent of about 40 indie rock bands from the last decade, so it's a good thing the songwriting — which rings heavily of Daniel Johnston — is solid, and the performance is surprisingly tight. Still, the Ohio-based trio left me a little cold.

But not temperature-wise cold, since it was a sweltering 40 degrees Celsius or so inside Lee's by the time Deerhunter hit the stage at 11 p.m. After opening with Microcastle's one-two punch of "Cover Me (Slowly)" and "Agoraphobia," the group launched into a dynamic set that drew somewhat from Cryptograms and their Fluorescent Grey EP and heavily from the new album — or at least one disc of it.

It became pretty clear that the band considered Weird Era Cont., the second full album attached to Microcastle, strictly bonus material. Aside from the stellar "Vox Celeste" and the long version of show-closer "Cavalry Scars II/Aux Out," Weird Era Cont. was entirely ignored. That's a shame considering it's almost as good as the main release.

On the plus side, there was just about every great track from Microcastle, plus Deerhunter's foremost songwriting achievement, "Fluorescent Grey." And sure, Bradford Cox isn't into wearing dresses and hand puppets anymore, but so what? When a band can produce that much solid power in performance, who needs cross-dressing?

I'm not even stepping into hyperbole when I say this was as intense as seeing Radiohead in a small venue. As long as Cox can keep editing his prolific songwriting into classic records, it won't be long before Deerhunter are playing venues 10 times as big as Lee's. Well, as long as everyone finally figures out how awesome they truly are, that is. Since they played to about 150 last time here and 500 this time, it looks like people are coming around.