Deerhunter

Cryptograms opens with the sweaty sounds of a fertile river, the bullfrog croaks, crickets hum; it could be the soundtrack to any deep south thriller. Youths in drenched T-shirts and worn-out sneakers wade waist-deep through murky water, slapping leeches on each other’s bare arms. From this daydream emerges the dissonant, spaced-out groan of this Atlanta, GA five-piece. It’s a psych-heavy album with remnants of sonic guitars infused with keyboards and front-man Brendan Cox’s vocals gliding over the entire affair. Recorded in two distinct sessions, the first half of the album is weaved together with eerie, droned out noise, while the second splits off with tracks like the poppier "Strange Lights” and "Spring Hall Convert,” a beat-driven track with Cox’s placid vocals growing to lead the song to a gloriously cacophonous end. With help from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Deerhunter have recently gained a certain amount of well-deserved attention, both flattering and otherwise. The detractors are featured on their myspace page and consistently have a tough time describing Deerhunter’s, "so called music.” Clearly this is evolution.