Dan Deacon’s America is a noise rock masterpiece. With the likes of Sleigh Bells cutting the genre up over the last couple of years, Dan Deacon has a pretty solid platform to build on. However, if you took a little of their genetic makeup and combined it with Brian Eno, John Cale, Daft Punk, Sigor Ros and Johann Sebastian Bach then you’d be a little closer to what Dan Deacon has put together in the album.
It’s not perfect, the childlike noises on True Thrush put too much taint on the track, but in general it’s the best noise rock album release since Treats. Starting off with the falling chainsaw that is Guilford Avenue Bridge, it straps you in fast and doesn’t let up much until it closes out on USA IV: Manifest, storming to a close of heavy drums and digitised noise.
Lead single from the album, Lost, crashes with mad drum machinery, fuzzy overlays and Arcade Fire-like vocals. There are quieter, melodic notes in instrumental Prettyboy, the brooding USA I: Is A Monster, which ends on uplifting highs, and USA III: Rail, with it’s playful take on steam.
Here the album brings in classical influences in a similar way to Daft Punk’s soundtrack to Tron Legacy. It’s a rarity for classical music and rock to be combined, but when it does and it’s done well it can be impressive, and that’s exactly what Dan Deacon has constructed.
The Eno digital love free-flows into USA II: The Great American Desert, but with much less Bachtastix. However, Crash Jam is inevitably a spinning disk of hard smashed drum beats and hyper-fuzzed soundscapes. It veers a bit too close to the dance-floor sun at times, but bridges the album well on the whole.
Dan Deacon’s America is one of the best album releases of the year (2012), and a must-get for noise-rockerfiles and anyone that’s looking for something a little bit different or a little bit special. If you prefer your music more pop than Simon Cowell’s sexy-time cassette during the 80s then this definitely isn’t for you, but all else need apply.
Dan Deacon, America album review: 4.5/5
Dan Deacon, America track list:
1. Guilford Avenue Bridge
2. True Thrush
3. Lots
4. Prettyboy
5. Crash Jam
6. USA I: Is a Monster
7. USA II: The Great American Desert
8. USA III: Rail
9. USA IV: Manifest
