Weird Era Cont

'Originally released as a companion disc to go with Microcastle, Weird Era Cont. is an entirely new Deerhunter album in its own right, and there's a very compelling argument to be made that this is 2008's finest full-length by the band, trumping Microcastle in its experimental intensity and all-round sonic adventurousness. This is no collection of strange B-sides either: tracks like 'Operation' and 'Dot Gain' suggest that this band have a near inexhaustible supply of avant-pop firepower under their belt, loaded with as many hooks as any other songs the band have produced. Elsewhere, 'VHS Dream' well and truly nails that elusive reverb-saturated shoegaze sound that every band seems to be chasing nowadays, but rather than using production techniques as a mask for low content, Deerhunter make genuine creative tools of them. Bradford Cox lurks in the filtered echoes of 'Vox Humana' like Kim Gordon in the verses to 'Little Trouble Girl', and the effect is as sinister as it is hauntingly lovely. The album closes on the blissful noise jam 'Calvary Scars II/Aux Out' which earns every second of its spectacular ten-minute dirge. Awesome.' -Boomkat