REVIEWSDestroyer, ‘Kaputt’

7

• SPIN Rating:7 of 10

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Release Date: January 25, 2011
Label: Merge

Snarl and murmur would seem to be mutually exclusive, but Destroyer's Dan Bejar manages to do both simultaneously. Long on cryptic references (you mean you haven't read Curzio Malaparte's 1944 novel Kaputt?) and Euro-weary mood, the vintage electronic-pop ambience of Destroyer's ninth album recalls the days when MTV emphasized music. Bejar writes dreamy tone poems, obsessively repeating phrases until they become unlikely mantras ("I heard your record, it's all right"). But JP Carter's muted trumpet steals the show, a distant Greek chorus whispering in your ear.