Destroyer - Kaputt (Album Review)

DESTROYER * KAPUTT

(Merge Records)

For anyone that's followed Dan Bejar's career, they know him to be an eccentric artist who has always marched to the beat of his own drum. With Kaputt, his latest release under the Destroyer moniker, he relishes the opportunity to boast this preconceived notion of him.

Kaputt is a bit tamed down compared to Destroyer's last few releases. This definitely focuses more on Bejar's mastery of the English language than on musical accompaniments. First and foremost, Bejar is a poet...and Kaputt highlights just that. At times, Kaputt seems less like a Destroyer record and more like a soundtrack to a Red Shoe Diaries reboot. Translation? My 13-year old self would like this as much as my current self.

While some of Destroyer's releases of late (i.e. Destroyer's Rubies and Trouble in Dreams) have had  folk-like arrangements to complement Bejar's vocals, the musical accompaniment on Kaputt leans more towards synth and tamed down drum loops with the occasional shot of brass. Destroyer has always been about Dan Bejar the wordsmith, not Dan Bejar the instrumentalist...his vocals have a way of softly massaging your scalp, soothing your mind and putting you into a welcome trance. You know that feeling when you set out butter for just long enough, where it sort of melts as you're spreading it on your dinner roll? That smoothness is what Bejar embodies. For a dude that would not have a difficult time dressing up as Sideshow Bob for Halloween, that's an impressive feat.

Kaputt is not going to be a radio album, because Dan Bejar doesn't write radio singles. The almost 8 1/2 minute "Suicide Demo for Kara Walker" melds Bejar's lyrical style with one hell of a musical intro that goes by all too quick and culminates in a gorgeous duet. The title track, although a bit monotonous, provides an appropriate backdrop for looking out a picture window on a cloudy, slushy day. "Chinatown," "Blue Eyes" and "Poor in Love" aren't going to knock your socks off, but they also won't make you feel guilty for sitting on your couch while Bejar's words have their way with your cochlea. Why Bejar opted to close the [non-vinyl] album with a redux of 2009's "Bay of Pigs" is a bit beyond me, though. It would've been more appropriate to maybe give us something a bit more sped up, especially since he's always been keen on the bait-and-switch musical mentality. The BPM commonality throughout Kaputt gives off a bit of a Gayngs feel, and one can only handle so much of that.

Kaputt isn't a record that will put Destroyer on any new level, but it's definitely an achievement. Dan Bejar has shown us that innovation comes naturally and surprisingly easy.

Grade: B+