Release Date: January 25Label: Merge
Destroyer's Dan Bejar is a musician who does things his own way. Perhaps best known as one-third of the indie rock supergroup the New Pornographers, Bejar's witty wordplay, unconventionally elegant arrangements and nasal voice keep him quite separate from most of his contemporaries. It's no surprise then to hear him mine a vein of musical influence that has been tragically ignored by other hip, forward-thinking bands: the lush romance of Steely Dan and Avalon-era Roxy Music. Unfortunately dubbed "soft rock" by the judgmental music press, this sound suits Bejar's purposes beautifully, as he wraps languid sax solos, mournful clarinets and sighing keyboards around lyrics nostalgic for an earlier era. The stunning opener "Chinatown" displays Kaputt's style right off the bat, blending carefully mixed acoustic guitars and keyboards with atmospheric touches and crisp drumming. Over it all, Bejar croons the mysteriously maudlin refrain "I can't walk away... in Chinatown." There are other 80s musical touchstones here as well. New Order is name-checked in the lyrics of "Blue Eyes," before again being felt in the intro to "Savage Night At The Opera," with its distinctly Peter-Hook-y bass part. Throughout, Bejar creates a mood of glamor and class, tempered by his clever, occasionally sad lyrics. The sprawling nine minutes of "Suicide Demo For Kara Walker" are built on a masterful control of tension and release, while other highlights like "Downtown" and "Song For America" prove that Bejar's talents work just as well when compacted into three-minute pop. Finally closing with the eleven-minute-long "Bay Of Pigs (Detail)," Kaputt manages to be remarkably consistent while featuring a very diverse group of songs. We've known Bejar had skills for many years now, but this his first truly excellent album, from start to finish, not to mention 2011's first great release.
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