Review: Destroyer, Destroyer’s Rubies
Dylanesque. Troubadour. Rambling. Storytelling. Adjectives like these sum up the overall style of Destroyer, Vancouverite Dan Bejar’s band, but they don’t really do a good job of conveying what Destroyer’s all about with the new album, “Destroyer’s Rubies.”
Yelpy. Self-referential. Musically basic, but lyrically superlative. That’s more like it.
Bejar is the once-in-a-blue-moon frontman for The New Pornographers, and as such you may be familiar with his style: weird pitches in tone, complex lyric structure with lines that cut across riffs and phrases that carry on to weird lengths. With Destroyer, the lyrics become all-powerful — weaving long, rambling narratives with quick sensibility but and witty conclusions. “Destroyer’s Rubies” takes this trend further, with even deeper lyrics, but still managing to retain some fun, sing-song tones. The result is one of the most richly woven albums I can remember.
Unfortunately, Bejar’s lyrical genius comes at the cost of all else; “pop sensibility” is not a word you will associate with Destroyer. Some songs have great hooks (”Painter in your pocket”, on the radio.blog), but by and large “Destroyer’s Rubies” has clearly chosen to put the lyrics first, no matter what. Instead, Destroyer relies on Bejar’s twang, sneer and strong vocals to pull the songs through. An album best enjoyed with printed lyrics in front of you, “Destroyer’s Rubies” continues to bear fruit after repeated listenings. The result is an album that is far from immediately accessible for mass audiences, but richly rewarding.
“Destroyer’s Rubies” opens with “Rubies”, a tough, multi-layered nine-and-a-half minute epic ballad. This opening track is a metaphor for Destroyer itself: difficult, a challenge to our Britney Spears sensibilities, but rich, dense with meaning and ultimately worth every second.
This was reviewed on NPR last saturday. It was great…they even talked about the associated drinking game. I haven’t followed Bejar’s career, but the music on the review was quite delightful.
Comment by J. Stapley — March 22, 2006 @ 1:00 pm
I love love love this album. My favorite since A Ghost is Born, which is saying a lot for me. I’ve been composing a review in my head for my own little blog for the past month or so.
There is a lot of pop here, but unlike the rest of Bejar’s indie pop contemporaries he’s not afraid to offend the ears in the service of his lyrics, like you mention, but also in the service drama and expressive range. Like about 4′30″ into Looter’s follies when he yelps “On the Eastside, midwives’ lives go down the drain all cause our babies are dying… ” and two crazy ugly electric guitars show up just to make noise. It’s the drama in the music that gets me more than anything.
Another favorite moment is on “European Oils” when he sings:
And the fuzzy electric guitar makes another cameo appearance to turn it up a few notches. Then it calms right back down for the next verse. Great songcraft.
Comment by Tom — March 22, 2006 @ 1:01 pm
Tom, right on. It’s the kind of album that just gets better the more you listen. “Drama in the music” is a good way to describe what it’s all about, but the uninitiated will be surprised to the lengths Bejar can go to stretch music for the words. It is great.
Comment by Supergenius — March 22, 2006 @ 1:04 pm
Incidentally, Bejar also is responsible for my favorite moment on Twin Cinema: “Something in the way she moves just shouldn’t be allowed ah!”
Have you seen the Destroyer wiki? It annotates and cross references the self references and quotes in all his lyrics. Fun stuff.
Comment by Tom — March 22, 2006 @ 1:09 pm
Personally, I just love the way he intonates “United States.”
Or the line “I was Clytæmnestra on a good day, dispensing wisdom to the uninitiated…”
Comment by Supergenius — March 22, 2006 @ 1:10 pm
Sounds awesome. I’ve been wanting an album that’ll make me listen to every word.
Comment by Susan M — March 22, 2006 @ 1:36 pm
Thanks for the review and the posted songs, Steve. I find Bejar’s NP songs sometimes brilliant and sometimes tedious, so it’s good to hear what he can do with a whole album. I look forward to hearing more of his stuff.
Comment by Greg — March 22, 2006 @ 2:00 pm
Who is his voice reminding me of? I’m digging this a lot.
Comment by Susan M — March 22, 2006 @ 6:20 pm
Susan, lots of people compare him to older Bowie, but I don’t really hear it.
Comment by Supergenius — March 22, 2006 @ 6:51 pm
That could be it, but I don’t think so. Been awhile since I’ve heard any old Bowie though.
Comment by Susan M — March 22, 2006 @ 6:57 pm
I think it’s Neutral Milk Hotel this guy is reminding me of.
Comment by Susan M — March 23, 2006 @ 5:49 pm
[...] Destoyer—Destroyer’s Rubies (here’s Supergenius’s review; here’s my show review) Neko Case—Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (here’s my kind-of review) Band of Horses—Everything All the Time (here’s Greg’s review) The Twilight Singers—Powder Burns Built to Spill—You In Reverse The last three are not very safe in their spots. Here are some albums that could work their way into my top five or that at least might contend for a year-end top ten spot: [...]
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