Bradford Cox’s Deerhunter side/solo-project, Atlas Sound’s third official LP, Parallax hits the shelves tomorrow. Everyone is really excited about it. Everyone except Brandon. And he can’t figure out exactly why. This letter goes out to Chris Atto.
Stream Parallax with song-by-song writeup from Bradford Cox at NY Times Magazine.
Atlas Sound – “Mona Lisa”
From: Brandon Hall
To: Chris Atto
Hey, Chris. First, let me say that Parallax is kind of perfect music when the cold medication kicks in and your muscles start to twitch with the fatigue that’s rapidly flooding your senses in a valiant effort to save you from a night of coughing, sniffling, aching…
I’m hurting dude. Hurting bad. Sorry this letter is so late.
Anyway. Parallax is meant to score an underwater dreamscape, right? Heavy reverb on the voice and looping guitar lines, bubbling, refracted melodies, hypnotic, ethereal instrumental lines that feel like floating or drowning depending on the song but usually one or the other.
Beyond that, though, I don’t know what to say about Bradford Cox or his Deerhunter side/solo bedroom project, Atlas Sound. Am I the only person in the Indie world who’s completely bored by this? It’s not even that I don’t like any of it. To the contrary — I like most of it. I’ve listened at length to every Deerhunter and Atlas Sound LP and most of their EPs. When the tastemakers at P4K told me I had to hear Cryptograms or Microcastle or Halcyon Digest or Atlas Sound’s latest official LP, Logos, I ran out and bought a copy. (Literally. I’m still a record store rat and will continue to be until they close the last one down. At which point I’ll have to open my own.)
But I digress. I have enjoyed each and every last one of these albums. Yet, not a single one has ever stuck with me. In fact, for the most part, they’ve bled together so seamlessly, I could hardly tell you what song came from what album.
There’s a lot to like on Parallax. The album is bookended by the kick-ass, jangly “The Shakes” and the raucous, thrilling closer, “Lightworks.” “Mona Lisa” and “My Angel is Broken” are incredibly catchy pop songs that should be heard by everyone, that would be a welcome addition to any mix, but like the rest of the album, are ultimately as fleeting and intangible as their subject matter. When the songs end, there seems to be little left of them; they don’t get caught in my head, I don’t hum them to myself walking down the street. The songs on this album are like a dry wine that leaves no aftertaste. It’s better than a bitter aftertaste, but, I mean…
P4K just BNM’d Parallax and gave it an 8.7
Logos (BNM’d 8.2)
Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel (BNM’d 8.6)
Halcyon Digest (BNM’d 9.2)
Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. (BNM’d 9.2)
Cryptograms (BNM’d 8.9)
Even by Pitchfork’s standards of pet bands, wherein they decide a band or artist is the greatest thing ever and seem to give up objectivity altogether in favor of perpetuating the myth of greatness they themselves created (see: Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Animal Collective), this is kind of ridiculous in its prodigious, prolific consistency. And it seems rather misleading. Can you think of any other band that has been consistently great enough to warrant those numbers? That’s a Beatles-esque run.
What am I missing? These albums are all very good and really enjoyable for a few spins. But they’re all pretty quick to get lost in the shuffle. I feel like I’m watching the housing bubble inflate and inflate, just waiting for it to pop. Why is everyone else so geeked to hear the same stuff from Cox? Help me out, Chris. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
“When you’re down, you’re always down.”
Brandon
Parallax is out 11/8 on 4AD.
AudioVole 
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