August 3rd, 2008 10:46pm

It Haunts My Days

Deerhunter @ McCarren Pool 8/3/2008
Calvary Scars / Never Stops / Spring Hall Convert / Hazel Street / Nothing Ever Happened / Fluorescent Grey / Operation / Saved By Old Times / Strange Lights

When I saw Deerhunter play an early afternoon set at the Pitchfork festival last year, the music didn’t feel quite right, and the band seemed awkward and exposed in the sunlight, in front so many people. That was the old Deerhunter. The new Deerhunter is polished and experienced, and surprisingly outgoing for a band that draws on shoegazer and art-drone influences. Bradford Cox has abandoned his provocative tactics of the Cryptograms period, and has become comfortable being exactly who he is: A sweet, funny, earnest young guy who wants to rock out and sing songs about passivity.

The free Sunday shows at McCarren Pool draw large crowds of people who are mostly there to hang out, socialized, eat, drink, sunbathe, and get on that slip and slide. It’s a pleasant scene, and it’s full of people who could easily get turned on to a band if they bring it. Weirdly, it seems that most of the bands play this stage like it’s just another business-as-usual gig, but I think Deerhunter showed up eager to make some new fans. The setlist leaned on their most accessible songs, and they hit a nice balance of precise, deliberate rocking, and goofing around.

Deerhunter “Never Stops” – “Never Stops” is a song about feeling trapped, and not even being able to escape in your mind, or in your dreams. So why does it sounds so thrilling and free? Because it has to. The song itself is the way out, and when it hits its crest, the words that signify frustration just turn to sound. A lot of the time, song lyrics are there to be reinforced by the sound of the music, but in this case, it’s as if Bradford Cox is trying to drown them out, and obliterate the bad feelings. (Click here for the Deerhunter blog.)