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Over the past year Bradford Cox has been living the indie-rock dream. In the early part of 2007, Cox’s band Deerhunter released Cryptograms and Fluorescent Grey EP – both of which received great critical praise. Then Cox had a bit of an unnecessary lash out against Samara Lubelski, to whom he later publicly apologized via Pitchfork Media interview. Adding to this reputation, the band was asked not to play a scheduled show with the Smashing Pumpkins because of an altercation between Cox and Billy Corgan. Finally, in late 2007, Cox’s side project Atlas Sound was featured on the Friend EP of indie rock darlings Grizzly Bear, covering Grizzly Bear’s “hit” “Knife.” After a whirlwind of fake blood and sundresses (Cox is known for his less than typical stage outfits) Cox now hands us the debut LP from Atlas Sound.
The first thing that is established by Let The Blind is Bradford Cox is still the front man of Deerhunter. Cryptograms built you up and broke you down with it’s driving, melodic noise switching on and off with dense and dissonant ambience – the ultimate ear fuck. The Fluorescent Grey EP contained less of Cryptograms’ more inaccessible material and stuck to a more poppy and focused sound. Cox seems to pick up where he left off after Fluorescent, but still develops something new.
Let The Blind Lead’s opening track “Ghost Story” is a spoken word track, reminiscent of a classic Wu-Tang sample, over a backdrop of deep sonic layers, setting a tone for what will be a very desperate record. Within the first minute of “Recent Bedroom” Atlas Sound distinguishes itself from Cox’s previous work. The instrumentation is filled with layers of unfamiliar dounds, and Cox’s lyrics are more intelligible than ever before. The sound is more subdued, but warmer as Cox’s vocals yearningly whisper with the perfect amount of reverb. Album standouts “River Card” and “Quarantined” follow with eerily catchy hooks driven by the quiet, but ever present rhythm section.
After the tone is set by the first four tracks, Let The Blind Lead continues to pepper quirky, but memorable phrases throughout layers of thick instrumentation. “Cold As Ice” relies on a give and take between conventional guitar and a reversed keyboard sample to deliver a remarkably haunting melody. Cox changes dynamics and instrumentation more often than changing musical progressions, which develops a unique song structure similar to his prior Deerhunter work. The second half of the record features more experimentation and electronics, including instrumentals like “Ready Set Glow” and “Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel.” “Bite Marks” incorporates a percussive electronic loop to push the song forward under a smooth bass line and more of Cox’s haunting murmur.
Lyrically Cox is repetitive, but sinister; he fits the mood of the music perfectly. On “Quarantined” he faintly whispers, “Quarantined and kept so far away from my friends / I am waiting to be changed.” He keeps his imagery simple yet powerful, showing his capabilities that were previously hinted at through Deerhunter.
As a whole, Atlas Sound delivers a frantically thick record, similar to a more electronic Panda Bear. Cox’s desire to be unconventional sometimes leads to predictability on songs like “Small Horror” and “Scraping Past,” which didn’t move very far. Let The Blind Lead makes a nice addition Bradford Cox’s catalogue, but doesn’t induce the sonic throbbing that Cryptograms did. I guess we’ll have to wait a little longer for Cox to ascend to the zenith of indie rock’s Mount Olympus and join the gods of the genre.
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