Deerhunter have entered their pop phase.  The blanket of feedback covering Cryptograms has been left behind, and Bradford Cox has evolved into a frontman.  The recording process for this album, which you can witness first hand over at Pitchfork.tv, shows a move away from a wall of sound style and towards arrangements with more breathing room for the instruments and up front vocals.

Microcastles is a perfect forward step in the Deerhunter catalog.  The album is rooted in the best moments found on Cryptograms.  Those core elements are then further realized into uncharted territory.  The culmination of this can be seen on “Little Kids” and “Never Stops,” where Deerhunter embody the Sonic Youth cool they most certainly admire.

In the Pitchfork special Bradford talks about wanting to write pop songs, and somewhere inside each track he has succeeded.  Of course the songs as a whole could hardly be considered pop, but that is what makes Deerhunter the band they are.  The candy coated gleam that covers most modern pop songs has it’s place in the world, but so do the more messy and frayed.  Deerhunter embody that latter approach, and do it with the kind of style and talent that any of the New York legends would applaud.

[mp3] Deerhunter - Little Kids