In which Bradford Cox proves that his band are just getting better and better. After the epic double of Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. one might have thought that it was downhill all the way, but Halcyon Digest goes to show that Cox has a bottomless well of shimmering pop songs to charm and beguile the listener with.
It's a more laid-back affair than Microcastle, with the focus on a nostalgia for childhood memories and the discovery of music during the days before downloads, MP3s etc. This is something that makes its way into the lyrics of "Basement Scene", an elegy to the days of DIY music scenes.
There's a mix of the floating dream-pop of Cox's solo work as Atlas Sound in tracks like lead-off track "Earthquake" and the recent single "Helicopter", and the more insistent Deerhunter sound of "Revival", which would have soundtracked the Under the Sea prom in Back to the Future if Marvin Berry and the Starlighters hadn't gotten in first, and the psych-pop of "Desire Lines" and "Memory Boy".
It ends with the lovely, touching "He Would Have Laughed", a tribute to the late Jay Reatard. It's a fine way to end the record, bringing it back to the present despite the yearning for the past redolent on the rest of the record.
Here's hoping Cox and co. continue to be so prolific, and so brilliant.
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