With 2007’s Spiderman of the Rings, Baltimore oddball Dan
Deacon went from underground noise nerd to Pitchfork darling.
Two years later, he returns with Bromst, an album that’ll likely
earn him just as much attention. It’s hard to grasp why Deacon’s music
is so appealing. It’s noisy and chaotic, and sometimes teeters into
annoying. Still, there’s something very endearing about the messy
soundscapes he weaves. Bromst shows signs of progress while
still sharing similarities with Deacon’s previous record. Instead of
relying solely on electronics this time around, he experiments with
live instrumentation.
“Of the Mountains” balances the old and new: Deacon’s trademark
build-ups and intricate layering are still here, but instead of glitchy
bleeps, he opts for vibraphone and drums. The result is the same, but
the palette he draws from is more organic. Deacon gets epic on the
eight-minute “Surprise Stefani,” which starts with a slow crescendo of
feedback before evolving into a wacky electro-pop jam. “Woof Woof” is
all over the map, with distorted guitars, random sounds and warbled
vocals; it sorta sounds like carnival music. Bromst is another
brilliant effort by an artist who often straddles the line between
genius and insanity. — Eddie Fleisher
This article appears in Apr 1-7, 2009.
