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Avg: 3.5 (237 ratings)
- Date Released: March 18, 2008
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: Merge Records
The steward of the peculiar returns — a little bit prouder, a little perverse
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We Say...
Once more now into the mind of Dan Bejar, where nothing worth saying isn't worth saying twice, and where a flower — particularly a blue one — is never just a flower. With both his work in Destroyer as well as his fistful of contributions to the New Pornographers, Bejar has carved a niche for himself as the willful steward of the peculiar. Beginning with 2002's marvelous This Night, he's crafted records that are gleefully labyrinthine, beholden to little beyond their own particular logic. Songs reference themselves, reference older Destroyer songs, reference songs by other people entirely. A punnier writer might say Bejar never meta-text he didn't like.
He took this m.o. to its zenith two years ago with Destroyer's Rubies, a loose, ambling record whose wiseacre lyrics served as a kind of tribute to/epitaph for the American indie rock underground. It was a canny move: a self-referential record about a scene that had raised self-reference to an art form, Rubies quoted classic rock and crumbling fanzines with equal aplomb.
It should be said that Bejar's latest, Trouble in Dreams, is neither as surprising or far-reaching as its predecessor. Instead, it's a limber — if slighter — sequel, taking the original's musical themes and reworking them. The first two words on Trouble are "OK, fine," and the rest of the record could well be subtitled: "Once more, with feeling." Bejar has found his musical niche; most of Trouble inverts classic rock in many of the same ways Rubies did. "Dark Leaves Form a Thread," an early high, chucks a single guitar lick down the stairs over and over and over. "My Favorite Year" obscures girl group da-da-da's behind a squall of guitar, Bejar rattling off lyrics as if he's afraid he won't get them all out in time.
Trouble may lack Rubies' through-narrative, but its short stories are still pretty good. "Introducing Angels" is slow and lovely, as close to a love song as Bejar has ever written. "Common scars brought us together," he sings, gentle acoustic guitar swaying behind him. "Shooting Rockets," Bejar's one clear moment of self-reference is stretched out to epic length, peaking with doomy spirals of piano as Bejar wryly opines "A chorus is a thing that bears repeating." The song arrives at the center of Trouble like a black tornado, a sudden, welcome reminder that Bejar as usual is still pretty unusual. -
They Say...
Dan Bejar must have gotten used to the full-band sound he explored on Destroyer's last album, 2006's Destroyer's Rubies and the touring that followed, because Trouble in Dreams presents an even more completely realized version of that (all but Scott Morgan returned from Rubies), full of strings and drums and horns, changing time signatures and soaring background vocals. Bejar has also come to realize, at least some of the time, that a good, strong melody can help bring together what otherwise could be an ornately shambolic mess of nonsensical allusions and phrases and chord changes. Take the first single, "Foam Hands," for example. The lyrics are as abstract as always ("I didn't know what time it was at all/Foam Hands"), but because the instrumental and vocal lines return, setting it up in more traditional pop structure, the song is more digestible, and honestly, more enjoyable because of it. That's not to say that the elements that have won Destroyer so many fans are lacking. Bejar's faux-accented voice is in fine form here (although he gets slightly carried away in "Plaza Trinidad," where he can't seem to decide if he's channeling Bowie or Dylan, and sounds a bit silly because of it), witty and romantic and complicated. "Shooting Rockets" is in fact a cleaner remake of the Swan Lake song, dramatic and eloquent, "The State" is an energetic, blues-rock-influenced tune that allows Bejar the space to even yell a bit, and the closer, "Libby's First Sunrise" plays on the more straightforward adult rock sound that permeates Trouble in Dreams, turning it into something quite lovely, what Jeremy Enigk meant to do on World Waits but couldn't quite pull off. There are some missteps here: besides the aforementioned "Plaza Trinidad," the title phrase from "Introducing Angels" is half-whispered just a little too poignantly, the individual syllables accented just a little too clearly, and make Bejar sound like he's trying much too hard to be emotional and romantic, and "Leopard of Honor" crosses into the Burt Bacharach/yacht-rock territory without much uniqueness or apology. But on Trouble in Dreams, Bejar and Destroyer have also shown that they can continue to write both the literate, complex songs they and their audience love and expand and explore new melodic territory successfully.
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| 01. |  |
Blue Flower/Blue Flame |
3:23 |
|
| 02. | |
Dark Leaves Form a Thread |
3:35 |
|
| 03. | |
The State |
3:58 |
|
| 04. | |
Foam Hands |
3:50 |
|
| 05. | |
My Favorite Year |
6:07 |
|
| 06. | |
Shooting Rockets (From the Desk of Night's Ape) |
7:59 |
|
| 07. | |
Introducing Angels |
3:44 |
|
| 08. | |
Rivers |
5:14 |
|
| 09. | |
Leopard of Honor |
5:32 |
|
| 10. | |
Plaza Trinidad |
3:33 |
|
| 11. | |
Libby's First Sunrise |
5:59 |
|
11 Total Tracks, 52:54 Total Length
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Credits
- John McCusker - Design // David Carswell - Producer // Destroyer - Producer // Daniel Bejar - Guitar // Daniel Bejar - Vocals // Rodney Graham - Gong // Rodney Graham - ? // Fisher Rose - Percussion // Fisher Rose - Drums // Fisher Rose - Vocals (Background) // Fisher Rose - Whistle (Human) // Fisher Rose - Brass // Fisher Rose - Vibraphone // John Collins - Producer // Ted Bois - Keyboards // Ted Bois - Mellotron // Sydney Vermont - Cover Painting // Nicolas Bragg - Guitar // Nicolas Bragg - Vocals (Background) // Tim Loewen - Guitar (Bass) // Maggie Fost - Design // Sarah Edmonds - Artwork
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