At the tail end of last month I was lucky enough to witness self-described ‘ambient punk‘ band Deerhunter performing live at Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Famous for its use of eclectic genres vacillating between shoegaze, psych-pop, post punk, ‘ambient punk’ is definitely the best way to categorise the band. Indeed, the atmosphere that they create live is exceptional, close to a ‘religious experience’ as Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ Karen O once stated.
Seeing them live, the first words that came to my mind were eerie, magical, hypnotic, to the point where the enthusiastic crowd seems to gently turn into a trance. Furthermore, Deerhunter is unquestionably punk, with the rawness of their guitars and frontman Bradford Cox‘s pale and scrawny figure that vaguely resembles a young Thurston Moore.
Founded in 2001, the four-piece is well established as one of today’s leading indie bands, but what distinguishes them from others is their unique style and singular use of pain as the essence to their music. Having suffered the loss of a member in 2001 and with Cox‘s illness, Deerhunter is one those bands that manages to turn negative experiences and emotions, into lyrical, powerful and endearing music without ever becoming melodramatic.
The band mostly performed songs from their three biggest albums, ‘Microcastle‘, ‘Cryptograms‘ and the more recent ‘Halcyon Digest‘. The show began with the sorcerous ‘60 Cycle Hum‘ where the guitars slightly resembles those of Joy Division‘s ‘Transmission‘. To the great pleasure of the audience, the band then followed with ‘Desire Lines‘, surely one of their biggest hit, which definitely made us want to “come with [them], far away, everyday”. A few songs later, the band performed a prodigious version of ‘The Light Pours Out of Me‘ by British post-punk band Magazine, confirming where their roots lie.
The most striking aspect of the concert was probably the undeniable mastering of rhythm the members displayed. Seeing Deerhunter live means rediscovering classic songs such as ‘Agoraphobia‘, ‘Helicopter‘ or ‘Fluorescent Grey‘ with a different ear. A personal highlight was when they performed an absolutely breathtaking rendition of Patti Smith‘s ‘Horses‘, probably one of the most powerful and complex songs ever made. These guys absolutely mastered this iconic song and I was extremely pleased to find that same tense anxiety that is present in the original version.
By the end of the show, the crowd had been pummelled into submission. It seems that whatever Bradford Cox creates, he succeeds. His solo project as Atlas Sound is a masterpiece of both delicacy and ingeniosity. The man is from a different planet, with its own sounds, own rhythms, own rules and own feelings/ Every new album makes us leap a little bit more into this magical and bewitching world.
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Post by Olivia
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