Deerhunter

AMG Review of Deerhunter

Stewart Mason
All Music Guide

The debut album by Atlanta new wave revivalists Deerhunter (officially untitled, but listed in the Stickfigure Records catalog under the name "Turn It Up Faggot," a taunt the band claims was often directed at them during their early gigs) is a pleasant change from all the B-52's and Joy Division worship that goes on under that banner. In its place comes an aggressive blend of guitar skronk and rhythmic pummeling that's a direct descendent of fellow Georgians like the Method Actors and the early, aggressive side of Pylon. The five-piece band favors a squalling, echo-heavy sound that makes individual instruments and vocals nearly impossible to make out: the loudest sound to pierce through the murk is as likely to be a simple one-note piano part or thwacking hi-hat cymbal as anything else. The resulting mess of a sound is a take-it-or-leave-it affair that some listeners will find an impenetrable wash of noise. The intrepid listener who sticks with it will find a compelling mix of dance-rock throb and noisy drones that sound like a happy-feet cross between early Sonic Youth feedback squalls and the most Krautrock-influenced and dance-oriented aspects of the Fall.