Deerhunter’s new “Halcyon Digest” keeps noise and rock, adds the pop

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Five out of five stars

Noisy indie rockers, Deerhunter, trade their knack for noise for brighter, tighter pop sensibilities on their most recent album, “Halcyon Digest.”

Recorded with Ben Allen, the mastermind behind the mixing board for Animal Collective’s now-classic “Merriweather Post Pavilion,” “Halcyon Digest” shares much of that album’s atmospheric, pop sheen, resulting in Deerhunter’s most accessible and enjoyable record to date.

When Deerhunter made their way into the public eye with 2007’s “Cryptograms,” they were a far more noisy, experimental band, their poppier material buried underneath fuzz, distortion and feedback. Part of the appeal of “Cryptograms” was deciphering all that murky noise to find the pop gems that were encrypted within.

“Halcyon Digest” does away with the noise, stripping the songs down and making them far easier to pick apart and interpret. That’s not to say they’ve done away completely with their experimental side; there are still plenty of interesting sounds and textures here that are just as fresh as when Deerhunter first began.

The album opens with “Earthquake,” a dreamy, foggy number that drifts and lilts, driven forward by a reversed electronic drumbeat.

“Do you remember waking up on a dirty couch?” vocalist Bradford Cox asks as the scene unfolds, waves of delay-soaked guitars subtly peaking and falling, resulting in one of the album’s highlights.

Another one of the record’s high points comes in the form of “Revival,” a two and a quarter minute long song of perfectly executed pop. The song is driven by a bouncy bass line, an incredibly catchy mandolin riff and fuzzy synth bass.

Where the song really shines is in its middle portion, when the drums and bass drop out, leaving only Cox’s dreamy, wordless falsetto and the double tracked mandolin, resulting in one of those weightless pop moments many music fans live for.

“Desire Lines,” which finds guitarist Lockett Pundt taking over vocal duties, is another on of the record’s shining moments. Beginning with a beating bass drum and a slinky bass line, which sound dangerously close to those that begin Arcade Fire’s anthemic “Rebellion (Lies),” the song finds Deerhunter doing what they do best: creating delightfully atmospheric indie rock that isn’t overly strange or off-putting, nor is it overly safe or accessible.

With “Halcyon Digest,” Deerhunter have solidified themselves as one of the most interesting and creatively trustworthy contemporary rock bands, whilst also crafting one of the strongest and most enjoyable records released this year.

Fans of The Velvet Underground, Arcade Fire and No Age should not sleep on this one.