Though the album begins with the
ringing sound of feedback, Parallax
is actually the most accessible and pop oriented release of Bradford
Cox's career. However, this doesn't mean it's an easy or mainstream
record; it's all a matter of degrees. After all, the last Deerhunter
album was the most accessible and pop oriented thing that group has
released to date but it's still weirder and more experimental than
anything you'd hear on modern rock radio. In the same way, Parallax
may lack the abrasive/off-putting elements of Cox's past work but it
still manages to be a meaty and eccentric record, moving from classic
rock/retro influenced pop songs to dreamy/spacey daydreams with
surprising ease and coherency.
As
de-facto leader of Deerhunter and solo artist under the Atlas Sound
moniker, Cox has quietly become one of the finest songwriters of his
generation. A track like 'Angel Is Broken' would be the clear
highlight of most other artists' careers but it wouldn't even make my
top ten favorites by him. While even I still primarily think of him
as the guy who uses lots of effects pedals and always has a druggy
bent to his music, the reality is that underneath all that adornment,
his songs (at least most of them) boast memorable hooks and affecting
lyrics. True, like all of Atlas Sound's recordings, Parallax
sounds best on a pair of
headphones but this doesn't stop it from also being an album that
sounds great in the car or on a stereo. 'Te Amo' is packed with
detailed touches that are lost without said headphone listening
though it still sports a strong enough hook to trap you on first
listen when heard out loud.
After
I was left a little cold by Logos,
I began to wonder if Cox would continue getting more—for lack of a
better term—accessible in his two projects. And I don't mean
“accessible” in a good way. True, the main failing of Logos
was its lack of focus and the spotlight stealing guests, but it also
didn't help that the songs were sometimes too stripped down for their
own good. It gave one the impression Cox still wasn't sure what the
Atlas Sound project would be. I began to think of it as his tinkering
space for where he wanted to take Deerhunter. Parallax,
then, represents both a return to spacier/dreamier pastures as well
as finally nailing down why Atlas Sound was a separate affair from
Deerhunter.
Whereas
Deerhunter is more about a full rock band approach, stopping off to
try out shoegazer, garage rock, and psych-pop, Atlas Sound as
codified on Parallax
toes the line between full band, retro influenced pop/rock songs like
the title track and 'Mona Lisa' and the
staying-in-bed-and-spending-the-day-alone spacey ambient/pop of Atlas
Sound's first album. Not that they're always separated. It
effectively mixes the two styles, too: the aforementioned 'Te Amo'
may be one of the poppiest tracks but there's also all sorts of
little flourishes and electronic sounds in the background.
Indeed,
the last half of Parallax
spends more time drifting off into the ether than it does rocking
out, giving the record a sense of progression that makes it a more
cohesive listen than the scattershot Logos.
The two part finale, 'Quark', is actually more
experimental than anything on even Let The Blind Lead Those
Who See But Cannot Feel, the
first part a seven minute collage of clattering percussion, spacey
looped sounds, and, near the end, some pretty xylophone lines. The
shorter second part, meanwhile, blooms beautifully with the sort of
bright, gleaming acoustic guitar loops he often uses when playing
live as Atlas Sound (check
out this performance to see what I mean).
Parallax
isn't as special to me as the first album yet I would say that it's a
more complete album, succeeding where Logos
nearly-failed despite having a wider variety of sounds. It's tempting
to call it his most accomplished work to date, but perhaps a better
way to think of it is that it's his most finessed and committed work
to date. If Atlas Sound always sounded like a sideproject with songs
leftover from Deerhunter recording sessions, made on a whim alone by
Cox, this should be the record that proves he is putting his all into
Atlas Sound, too.
5 Poorly Drawn Stars Out Of 5
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