Destroyer
Ken
Merge
2017
Rating: 8 stick built condominiums out of 10
At this point a new Destroyer album is much like their live shows - if you're already familiar with what they do and how they sound, anything new is pretty much more of the same thing. But they’re so damn good at that same thing, you keep coming back for more, or at least I always do. I actively dislike the song “Cover from the Sun”, which might be the only thing I can say that's different about "Ken" versus their other records...I also couldn't tell you why I feel that way.
Honestly, I'm at a loss as to what to say here...it's their thirteenth record (!?!?!), it sounds more or less the same as the last five or so ("Your Blues" was the last one that was decidedly different), and it was one of my favorites of 2017 because I'm old and set in my ways and why fuck with a good thing?
Destroyer
Poison Season
Merge
2015
Rating: 8.5 male potency drugs out of 10
It wasn't until I read another review that I realized this latest Destroyer album, "Poison Season," carried a New York City theme throughout much of the songs. Listen, I hardly ever pay attention to lyrics - so long as they aren't super blatantly stupid, singers can pretty much be saying whatever they want. The thing is that musically, this album sounds very much like the late seventies in the greater New York City area - there are easy comparisons to Springsteen, Lou Reed and Bowie of that era. Not the vocals mind you - Dan Bejar sounds nothing like those three titans, but is amazing all the same on his own terms. The second track on the album, "Dream Lover," is instantly one of the top five best songs Destroyer has ever released - very strong praise in my opinion. I keep waiting for the inevitable downhill slide with Bejar and Destroyer, but album after album they not only meet but surpass my expectations.
King Khan and the Shrines / Destroyer
Split 7''
Merge
2014
Rating: 7 weeping willows out of 10
The fourth Merge subscription seven inch - this one on purple vinyl (As you can sorta see above). The King Khan contribution is a cover of the Saints "Know Your Product," and he fills the songs with horns and a real party vibe - if I didn't know better I'd think it was one of his original songs. The Destroyer side was written by a Chilean named Victor Jara, but having no knowledge of the guy or song I couldn't tell you any more than that. I'm guessing it was recorded at or near the same time that Dan Bejar recorded the "Five Spanish Songs" EP, because it is very much that flavor. And in Spanish. That part might be the giveaway. It still feels very much like a Destroyer song, hard not to with that voice.
Destroyer / Wye Oak
Split 7''
Merge
2008
Rating: 6.5 robot babies out of 10
This was apparently an exclusive release by Merge for Record Store Day back in 2008, back before RSD became the monster it is today. The first side is an exclusive track from Destroyer, "Madame Butterflies" - not Dan Bejar's best work but a decent enough song. Most musicians would probably sacrifice a nut to even put out music as good as a mediocre Destroyer song. I actually prefer the b-side of these two, Baltimore's Wye Oak with "Prodigy" - it's a slow jam that doesn't really show off the band's trademark (that being Jenn Wasner's guitar chops), but it's a catchy song all the same. Not a must-have record, but certainly worth a rescue from the bargain bin that I got it from.
Destroyer
Five Spanish Songs EP
Merge
2013
Rating: 5 ceramic Speedy Gonzales figurines out of 10
I don't have any idea what to do with this Destroyer EP. It doesn't really sound like Destroyer...but it still sounds ok I guess? It's entirely in Spanish which means I can't even sing along if I wanted to, and I usually love singing along to Destroyer. This is the sort of shit that is cute and works when Jonathan Richman does it, but I'm kinda tuning out quickly when it comes from Dan Bejar.
Destroyer
Kaputt
Merge
2011
Rating: 8 sudden endings out of 10
I've been listening to Destroyer so long, I don't even really know how to review it. Destroyer has become a touchstone for other reviews, like a basic building block of life. How do you review helium or carbon or unununium? They just are. Destroyer just is.
I guess you compare it to other Destroyer records. It's not really like anything else he has released, but it doesn't feel out of place in his catalog either. The main man behind the band, Dan Bejar, has moved through a few different phases in his career. He started with off-kilter folk aka "albums I don't listen to very much", and then around "Thief" he started exploring his glam-pop David Bowie/T-Rex side. This culminated in his best work "Streethawk: A Seduction", a collection of some the greatest pop songs of the last 25 years. Then he decided to make a synth-pop record all by himself with "Your Blues", and then later re-recorded some of those songs live with Frog Eyes for the "Notorious Lightening" EP (my second favorite release, if you're keeping count). After that, it was a slow transition through a couple of records to the mature-yet-experimental adult pop that is "Kaputt".
Outside of "Savage Night at the Opera", there aren't a lot of hooks here like with most of Destroyer's records. These songs are slow burners, taking multiple listens before they worm their way into your brain like a case of herpes left untreated. It's a record for late-night solo drives down country roads, just you and one musical madman's musings. He ends the release with the song "Bay of Pigs" from the self-titled EP from 2009, an eleven minute long self-described "ambient disco" track that perfectly bleeds out of this sophisticated pop opus. And bleeds back into it, if you're listening to it on repeat like I have been.
Destroyer Trouble In Dreams Merge
2008
Rating: 8 eccentric Canadians out of 10 I was recently having a conversation with a friend about how Destroyer is pulling a reverse T-Rex...Marc Bolan started out all folky, some of the original “freak folk” stuff really, but slowly T-Rex morphed into a rock band over their last few records. Destroyer is going the opposite route – Dan Bejar really made his name off of earlier upbeat glam rock albums like “Thief” and “Streethawk: A Seduction”, but his last couple of offerings, this record included, have mined a more delicate territory. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, just different, and it isn't universal of the entire record – stand-out track “The State” really gets amped up in the most perfect Destoyer-like way, a testament to the melding of glam and noise in all the right ways. I might not point to this record as a starting point for folks interested in seeing what the fuss is about behind Destroyer (see the earlier mentioned records), but it's still a very good listen and no doubt a release that will see a lot of air time on my stereo.
Destroyer
Notorious Lightning and Other Works
Merge
2005
Rating: 9 sketchy storms out of 10
Although this album is titled as a Destroyer release, in reality this album is Dan Bejar (aka Destroyer) with the group Frog Eyes playing the role of backing band. The product of this indie rock marriage might possibly be much better than either of the original bands involved. Well, definitely better than Frog Eyes, and on par with some of Destroyer's best work. I've never been a huge Frog Eyes fan, but their work here with Bejar makes me want to revisit their catalog and give them a second chance. I've nearly burned a hole in my copy of Detroyer's “Streethawk: A Seduction”, but this release ranks as a close second on my list of all-time best Destroyer albums.
All six of these tracks were previously available on his previous album “Your Blues”, but in a much different form - completely recorded by Bejar, nearly all of the instrumentation done via keyboards and synths, mostly delicate bedroom glam-pop. But here, starting with the opening track “Notorious Lightning” is an organic, sprawling, beautiful mess - still containing the hooks and basic structure of the original, but so much more. The full, live band sound really fleshes out Bejar’s songs much better than the original synth instrumentation. This record is easily an early contender for one of the best records of the year, and it just gets better every time I listen to it.
