There is no possible redemption for any band that names one of their songs ‘Daniel Johnston Was Stabbed In The Heart With The Moondagger By The King of Darkness And His Ghost Is Writing This Song As A Warning To All Of Us’. Come back, Panic! At The Disco, all is forgiven. Even if Moondagger were as sublime as Veckatimest or as revolutionary as L’Histoire de Melody Nelson, that title alone would be suffice to guarantee them a lifetime’s entry in the annals of indie wankerdom, but their music’s practically a fast-track pass to the front of the queue.
Hailing from Detroit, Randolph Chabot Jr has probably never heard The Enemy or even been to Coventry, yet Moondagger sounds suspiciously like Tom Clarke and his mullet-topped brethren frotting with Deerhunter to the tune of the Tesco Value version of Merriweather Post Pavilion. All the requisite synth-pop elements are there – disco beats, programmed kids’ toy beats, and tsunamis of haze – but intermixed with the musical equivalent of breadcrumbs and pork starch. Opener ‘Biophelia’ might border on poignant, were it not for a ‘heard it a million times’ Pikachu bleep and the numb urgency of its soaring chorus, all sterile rockets and fireworks taking off in quick succession. It dives into ‘Parallelogram’ (I wonder where he got the idea for that song title), with vocals straight out of MPP – saccharine and rushing atop an all-enveloping wall of tropical sparkle and stormy crashes – but it never builds to those same euphoric climaxes that Animal Collective do so well.
‘Greens, Grays, and Nordics’ makes plain that Deastro needs to attend lessons alongside classmates VHS or Beta, The Departure and The Bravery about why some musical trends were left in the ‘80s for a reason, and the offensively garrulous paean to Daniel Johnston mines the same grating vein. Despite starting in the same bland, dreamy way as a number of other songs present, it builds into what’s possibly the worst chorus of any song this year – think Tom Clarke joining PoP!, Hugh Grant’s fictional band from ‘Music & Lyrics’, attempting to write a Thatcherite protest song. Wincing yet? Try the chorus for size – “We’re gonna build this town / We’re gonna build it right / We’re gonna save this world / We’re gonna make some right”. It’s almost enough to make John McClure (Reverend & The Makers) sound like Dylan.
I said almost.
18%
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Cor, now that’s what I call a savaging! This album reminded me a lot of Abe Vigoda, hyped up second-rate borecore.
you were down to review this too si – what score would you have given it? just out of interest..
Hmm, probably around the 40% mark, it’s not necessarily inept or badly made, just really bland and uninteresting in many ways. I mean, the layered synths and keyboards and whatever are quite exciting when you first hear it, but as the album wears on you realize that that’s all there is, and the guy’s voice is buried in the middle of everything and quite weak.
Why do “critics” continue to “listen” to records on lap top speakers? You are obvious! Turn it up and listen again!
Is Animal Collective beyond redemption for their titling a record “Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished?”
“that title alone would be suffice to guarantee them a lifetime’s entry in the annals of indie wankerdom …” Tells me a lot about the music, thanks!
What in Deastro sounds anything like VHS or Beta?
“what’s possibly the worst chorus of any song this year?:
We’re gonna build this town / We’re gonna build it right / We’re gonna save this world / We’re gonna make some right”. A simple optimistic look at saving Detroit.
Here’s AC’s “My Girls”:
“I don’t mean to seem like I care about material things like a social status/ I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls”
Deep!
Yes, I also condemn these “critics”, how dare they have an “opinion”, why can’t they provide a commentary with the review that goes into minute detail explaining every sentence of the review?
—
Uh also, just to say that a full stereo system actually shows the full weakness of this album better than crappy laptop speakers, there ain’t nowhere to hide.
Did you say something? I was busy wondering why “writers” like yourself no longer feel the need to use periods and capitalize the first letter of a new thought. Oh, the internets.
*foghorn*
Leghorn
I say-I say-I say, well played suhr!
Hmm. I really liked this album. It’s in my car right now and I can say with the utmost certainty that it wont be taken out anytime soon.
I listened to it on a pretty nifty stereo actually… Sorry you feel there’s no room for an irreverent poke at ridiculous song titles in reviews, next time I’ll be sure to keep it as po faced and all about the music as humanely possible.
And seriously, you can’t deny that rhyming “right” and “right” is unbelievably crass and uninventive, surely…
I enjoyed the review. That’s all I’ve got. Although it has got me questioning some of my own stupid song songs titles, such as ‘David Lee Roth Vs Dave Lee Travis (The Hairy Cornflake)’…
@ Dutch
You’re completely correct in saying “A simple optimistic look at saving Detroit.” Randy loves the city and it’s evident in his writing and the joyful pop music he creates that he is on a mission to make a difference. Maybe if the reviewer spent some time actually listening to the record or seeing a live show rather than judging the album by it’s song titles would she see there’s a lot more than at first glance.
@ Simon
“the guy’s voice is buried in the middle of everything and quite weak” Has it occurred that the producers and Randy purposely placed the vocals at a lower level that blends with the music instead of being a forefront? If you haven’t gotten it yet, Randy makes spacey, dreamy pop-rock that has an emphasis on the electronic sounds he uses, not always just the vocals.
@ Snapes
“And seriously, you can’t deny that rhyming “right” and “right” is unbelievably crass and uninventive, surely…” Who says you can’t rhyme the same word with itself? Uninventive? Why does everyone have to be inventive in their lyrics? If every songwriter kept trying to make up ridiculous phrases to be “inventive” and sound more hipster and poetic than the last one, it would become a bit frustrating.
It’s annoying that critics just love to spew out fancy words and elaborate metaphors to make them sound more intelligent in their reviews. This review is a waste of time.
this is an effing brilliant and refreshing pop album. a little overwhelming at first, with the onslaught of synthesizers and hooks, so i can understand how it wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea…
but 18% is just obnoxious. you instantly lose all credibility for an elitist, mean-spirited gesture like that. add in the snide tone, pointless whinging about song titles/lyrics, and baffling comparison to other bands that you also have hipster derision for…what is this, an application to write at pitchfork?
pathetic.
C. Science! Brilliant!
“@ Simon
“the guy’s voice is buried in the middle of everything and quite weak” Has it occurred that the producers and Randy purposely placed the vocals at a lower level that blends with the music instead of being a forefront? If you haven’t gotten it yet, Randy makes spacey, dreamy pop-rock that has an emphasis on the electronic sounds he uses, not always just the vocals.”
Yeah it did occur to me that that was the case. It’s a style I have a real fondness for, artists like The Appleseed Cast, Grouper, Benoit Pioulard and some shoegaze bands all use the buried vocal thing to stunning effect. I just think his voice here isn’t interesting enough to make it work (which is what I mean by ‘weak’, rather than how it’s sitting in the middle of the music).
Thinking about it, I guess those smeared impressionist strokes of synth and keyboard that he uses just leave me feeling cold, there’s not enough detail in there (graininess, contrasting tones, etc. Something to break through the haze), it feels one-dimensional (which can also be an interesting element in other people’s work, but feels closer to aural wallpaper than I have time for).
Lots of parenthesis, not sure what’s going on there!
I’m having a great time listening to this record and I have to agree with those that are a bit baffled at such a scathing review. It’s remarkable what Chabot does with his chosen musical palette and I enjoy many of his lyrics as well, though I can understand how his style could certainly rub some people the wrong way. I’m thinking this guy is destined to make some spectacular albums and ‘Moondagger’ seems like a good step in that direction.
Fortunately, it’s our differences that make all this reviewing and commenting business so much fun…am I right? What’s the point of criticism (positive or negative) without a little backlash? En garde!
Who wants to fuck Mutombo!?!
This album is amazing. It is completely insane to me that all of you critics and what have you can praise Dan Deacon's newest effort, yet completely trash this amazing album. For the record, I like Deacon, but Deastro is far superior.
Maybe I'm biased due to the fact that I first heard Deastro/Randy years before this came out, but it's sublime and I think that he's really taken his music to a new and fantastic level. I'm proud to be a Detroiter and say that something like this is coming out of my city.
This album is amazing. It is completely insane to me that all of you critics and what have you can praise Dan Deacon's newest effort, yet completely trash this amazing album. For the record, I like Deacon, but Deastro is far superior.
Maybe I'm biased due to the fact that I first heard Deastro/Randy years before this came out, but it's sublime and I think that he's really taken his music to a new and fantastic level. I'm proud to be a Detroiter and say that something like this is coming out of my city.