This is the second release from Lockett Pundt, the Deerhunter guitarist. Proving an interesting and arguably pivotal period for him as a songwriter after being responsible for some of Halcyon Digest’s strongest material, mainly ‘Desire Lines’.
The opening ‘Untitled’ opens this record as a grand, sweeping statement. In a hazy but bold series of electronics, they swash and pulse - almost reminiscent of some of John Maus’ most recent work - the production gloriously bringing to life the textures and tonalities. The mood and tone set by the delicate opening is then broken by the tapping of drums sticks before launching into machine-gun drums and arpeggio guitars, as the record sequencing somewhat clumsily leads into single ‘Strangers’. The selection for this as single material is obvious, it’s a breezy and delectable slice of guitar pop, and is really rather irresistible, even if it is a slight re-hash of the aforementioned Deerhunter number ‘Desire Lines’.
Pundt has a wonderfully hazy but earthy vocal tone that sounds just as comfortable being left naked right up front for all to see, as it does hidden behind a sea of mutated effects and disguises. Much like some of Crystal Stilts work, this album seems to exist in a flux between the dark and light, on occasion the guitars and effects swirl in a poppy, upbeat manner with almost psychedelic nods to them as they invert themselves via the raging repetitions of the guitar work. Other times, there is a brooding, almost sinister tone to the work, the success of course lies in the balance, which is delicately struck here - and somehow easier to pinpoint due to the varying use of electric and acoustic guitar numbers on display.
‘White Galactic One’ could easily be one of Deerhunter’s strongest songs just as easily as it could have come from Brian Eno’s Here Come The Warm Jets - the last two minutes a continuously repetitive but somehow evolutionary series of guitar churns and pounding drums. If there is a song that perhaps best demonstrates Pundt’s ability to create melodies with his vocals then it’s ‘Monoliths’ - a glorious pop song, in which Pundt twists and elongates his vocals around the words; under the surface it’s almost Brit-pop like, but not as conceited or shallow.
Admittedly, this album breezed past me in a gust of pococurante the first few times I listened. I felt like a climber unable to get his hook into the side of a mountain, and I was simply left dangling. Thankfully, with every repeated listen I have been able to get my hook further and further in. What initially struck me as songs that felt too similar soon manifested themselves in a coherent and collective body of work, rich in style and continuity. There are delicate and intricate underpinnings that hold the album together, piano twinkles, subtle effects and thoughtful layering. ‘Jet Out Of The Tundra’ perhaps becomes the focal point for all the album stands for, in many ways - it grows, changes and evolves constantly and ultimately mutates into a different song by the time it finishes but with just a semblance of its original foundations ever-present.
The closing and acoustic ‘Black Buzz’ ends the album in an introspective and plaintive manner, what initially appears to be an almost Evan Dando-like simple acoustic dirge soon paves the way for a series of wonderfully tranquil and ambient electronics that replace the vocals. Then gradually the acoustic guitar dies and we are left with a wonderful humming that floats and echoes, simply as though the artist has left the room and left his equipment still running, until it slowly, quietly fades to dust.