Kaputt
Destroyer
Merge Records.
Kaputt arrived on the
scene in January with such aplomb, it was hard not to incite vague comparisons
with Merriweather Post Pavilion. Just as focused in its left-turn from crunchy electric
rock to synthesized textures, Kaputt seemed destined to win 2011 before it was
thirty days out of the gate.
And there’s a good
chance Destroyer pulled it off too, albeit on a slyer scale than the crushing
dominance Animal Collective demonstrated in 2009; Kaputt grabbed a flurry of
ecstatic reviews that climaxed with numerous year-end accolades and a shortlist
nomination for the Polaris Prize. Indeed, Dan Bejar’s ninth record as Destroyer
became a universal touchstone amongst indie enthusiasts, although the argument
could easily be made that Kaputt was designed to be such. I mean, a precocious
blend of Destroyer’s wit matched to atmospheric, Steely Dan-esque arrangements,
all coated in an 80s sheen of sax and drum-machines? That level of pastiche
seems tailor-made for 2011 and was quickly absorbed by a shoot-from-the-hip
blogger community SCQ’s hesitant to readily associate with.
Manufactured or not,
there was no denying Kaputt’s accomplishment or the prevailing oddity of Dan
Bejar. It renewed my interest in Bejar’s songwriting for the first time since
Destroyer’s Rubies in 2006 and gave me a rare horse to root for in the Polaris.
Also, like Merriweather…, Kaputt was dangerously close to exhausting all of the
sentiments and sonic trickery we considered fresh, in a way defining the
strengths and flaws of the year that was.
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