Dispatches from the Midwest: The Autumn of Zombies and Rock

Posted by aberry , Dec, 2008 @ 2:36 pm

This post is about Deerhunter, but there are several things I should have shared over a month ago. Here’s how autumn went:

I participated in the Zombie Pub Crawl in Minneapolis about a week before Halloween (see pic above). Ten to fifteen blocks of Minneapolis were overrun by young adults dressed as every type of zombie. I believe the event broke the world record for largest zombie gathering, but no one knows for sure because the organizers insist on keeping it informal. Damn straight.

The highlight was when I was aggressively bossing some zombie drinks in some bar’s outdoor drinkin’ area and four zombies stumbled out of a city bus full of horrified mortals. The zombies immediately fell into place with thousands of other zombies on the street, while the pod of real humans zipped away to safety. It was mayhem! I saw at least two windows broken because zombies were doing that thing they do where they slam up against the window RIGHT behind their victim without warning. The added bonus of the Minneapolis ZPC was that I discovered Cadillac Kolstad and the Flats. They look and play the 50s style rock n’ roll act perfectly. Check them out – I guarantee satisfaction. Apparently they have a regular Sunday night gig at Palmer’s.

Moving on, Yeasayer were amazing live at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee. They sounded nothing like what I’ve heard on their MySpace. They sounded like Animal Collective played by the Fleet Foxes. These being two of my three favorite live acts I saw this year (Deerhunter is number one!), I was understandably excited. There were lots of hippies there too, but they enjoyed the music the same way the indie kids did. It was sort of magical for those distinct camps to share appreciation for the same live act. Sort of like I imagine My Morning Jacket was received during their fabled Bonnaroo performance this past summer.

Later, I saw Wolf Parade play a solid set at The Majestic in Madison. The band is great, but the live show doesn’t add too much. The best part, though, was turning right out of The Majestic and seeing the legendary drummer Clyde Stubblefield inside Madison’s playing his weekly gig there.

Most recently I saw Disappears, Times New Viking and Deerhunter at the High Noon Saloon in Madison. Like Wolf Parade, Times New Viking didn’t too much that I couldn’t hear on the album. The drummer kind of pissed me off. But the keyboardist was cute and I like the way she carries herself. Props to Disappears for rocking out hard, beginning to end. But I wasn’t really intrigued beyond that.

Anyway, Deerhunter played the best show I’ve seen in a while. At the time of the show I was in the middle of a serious Sonic Youth binge, and I hadn’t yet heard Deerhunter’s October 2008 release, Microcastle. I stood in the front against the stage and right in front of Bradford Cox. I think a lot of the reeverb went over my head, so all I heard were tight, distorted guitar riffs played really, really loudly. I couldn’t hear the vocals except for what my mind superimposed based on the shapes Bradford made with his mouth and the varied constriction of his neck. And it sounded amazing. The guitars conversed with one another when they weren’t self-destructing in a textured squall. That, for me, is the best sound. Sonic Youth does it perfectly, and at this particular show, Deerhunter achieved temporary equality.

Microcastle was a big disappointment the first time I listened. It sounded nothing like I remembered from the concert. The conversing guitars I went so nuts over were de-emphasized. There was more sway-inducing ambience than sharp tunes. I am not quite capable of describing the differences in a musically intelligent way, but I think my disappointment is clear. But then I listened to Microcastle several times a day for two weeks. It is a phenomenal album! Again, I’ll leave it to someone else to describe exactly why, but I know I hear what they’re talking about. Microcastle is definitely one of my three favorite albums of 2008.

Anyway, something disturbing happened during the Deerhunter show. Bradford was chatting away during a break between songs and got on the topic of local bands. He yelled, “What are the best bands in Madison?” No one had an answer. After literally 10 minutes of uncomfortable banter aimed at getting out favorite local bands out of the crowd, it became apparent that there ARE no great bands from Madison. That was a huge disappointment.

Andrew is a contributor to musicology. And he’s usually much handsomer than the photo above would lead you to believe.

Tags: Animal Collective, Cadillac Kolstad and the Flats, Concerts, Deerhunter, Disappears, Dispatches from the Midwest, Fleet Foxes, My Morning Jacket, Sonic Youth, Times New Viking, Wolf Parade, Yeasayer, Zombie Pub Crawl, Zombies