I have to admit that I was never fully on the Deerhunter bandwagon. Of course I have listened to Cryptograms and Microcastle, the latter of which I thought was pretty good, but I've never considered myself necessarily a fan of the band. Halcyon Digest changed my perspective. For the enigmatic lead singer/creative force Bradford Cox, this is a shockingly upbeat album. Not to say that his earlier work was necessarily depressing. We are talking about more of a shift in tone. The music and lyrics are much more sunny than earlier works, and in my opinion this is a welcome change.
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Track 1: Earthquake
A slow building song that never really builds to anything. That being said it serves well as an introduction track for the album. It's a very heroin-rock track that has this almost glacial pacing compared to the rest of the album.
Verdict: 7/10
Track 2: Don't Cry
"Don't Cry" carries the pace of the album to a little faster level. Kind of a little creepy on the lyrics ("c'mon little boy, you don't need to cry"), but other than that a pretty entertaining song. Halcyon Digest has a a very basic pop formula hidden behind it's lo-fi experimentalism.
Verdict: 8/10
Track 3: Revival
One negative about this album is that about 75% of the really good songs are surprisingly short. "Revival", for example, is only two minutes and 14 seconds long. It is a pretty awesome 2:14 though.
Verdict: 10/10
Track 4: Sailing
A slower track, but with more meaning than "Earthquake". "Sailing" certainly lives up to it's title. A very calming song. It feels like you could get lost in this song's waves. It is a track that floats along until it ends. It almost plays like an interlude between the fast paced "Revival" and possibly the best song on the album, "Memory Boy"
Verdict: 7/10
Track 5: Memory Boy
I enjoy this one a lot. The added effect of the harmonica and a joyous guitar riff at the start of this song give you good vibes that last the whole song, which isn't long because it is only a sudden two minutes and nine seconds long. This song and "Revival" both share a short length, but both pack a great amount of good music into that short length. This album reminds a lot of what Olivia Tremor Control would sound like if they made a new album (and lord knows I wish they would). This song is a perfect example of their style: a tight, compact burst of perfect pop.
Verdict: 10/10
Track 6: Desire Lines
This song is what happens when you combine the slow and fast songs on this album up to this point. It has a fun sound and upbeat lyrics and singing style, and it is actually more than two minutes long. In fact it might be a bit overlong (which I guess is somewhat ironic). It certainly begins to meander near the end.
Verdict: 9/10
Track 7: Basement Scene
"Basement Scene" feels like the spiritual sequel to "Don't Cry". It deals with having to grow up, and the desire of virtually every young adult to not have to. This one also deals with Bradford Cox's possibly narcissistic need to want to remain relevant. One of the more lyrical driven songs on the album.
Verdict: 9/10
Track 8: Helicopter
Another slower song, but I do enjoy this one a little more than the other ones so far. "Helicopter" is my favorite of the three slower song's lyrically, and it has some interesting effects going on in the percussion department.
Verdict: 8/10
Track 9: Fountain Stairs
Another song that is less than three minutes long. Another upbeat and poppy track. I'm starting to think there is theme to all this slow-long / fast-short thing. "Fountain Stairs" is probably the weakest of the shorter tracks, but does have a little bit of flair in the guitar work that make up for it's overall lack of luster.
Verdict 8/10
Track 10: Coronado
"Coronado" is a great song mostly because of its complete change-up in sound. It uses a megaphone-like vocal effect and utilizes a horn section. It reminds me lyrically of a mid-60's Beatle's song. Somewhere along the line, Bradfod Cox got really good at making pop music.
Verdict 10/10
Track 11: He Would Have Laughed
...and the pattern comes to an end with one final slow, long song. This one sprawls out to a more than seven minute long track length. Another strong lyrical showing, with one of my favorite lines in the whole album ("I won't rest 'til I cant breath, I can't breath when you're looking at me"). A well chosen closing track as well. Fits strongly as a bookend to "Earthquake"
Verdict: 8/10
Cohesiveness Score: 7/10
I just couldn't really deal with the long/short/long layout of the album. It made it strikingly uneven. But the overall sound does fit very well together.
Final Score: 101/120 = 8.4
Final Thoughts:
When this album is on it is really great. But sadly these moments are fleeting (at least when it comes to track length). There is really not a bad song on here though, and it goes to show how great of a songwriter Bradford Cox has become.
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