Destroyer - 'Kaputt' Album Review

Sometimes things are just plain weird. Its easy to dismiss things that are weird because of it being just that, but should we be so quick to dismiss something because its different than the norm? Most of the time I would agree with going against the grain, you never know what amazing stuff you would hear or see or experience when you don't stick to society's idea of normal. Its the same with music, it sometimes differs greatly than whats considered normal. Sometimes the weird isn't so loud you would realize it was even there and sometimes its balls out fucking nuts. Destroyers new album is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. Its not so weird that you would easily be turned off of the music but for those who actually pay attention to what we are listening to we will start to realize how weird 'Kaputt' really is. Does this make the album bad? In a word... 'No', but it does make it in a class of its own.
'Kaputt' IS the definition of layers in music. Seriously, if you want to study what musical elements make up layers check out this album. There's always some new sound going on, or the same sound used in a new way. Its the first time in a long time that I've heard an album that had a horn section that didn't dominate the music. The sax and trumpet are blended so seamlessly into the music that its almost easy to forget that they are even in at all. Even the electronic parts of the music are blended so well that you don't really even notice it. This is surprising because the songs are very much electronic piece's.
Not everything about the album works though. The lyrics are at times delivered in a way that can be distracting. That might be due to the part of the world that the lead singer is from or from the actual pinned lyrics but I found myself focusing on instances in which the lyrics don't seem to fit into the music at all. For me, this isn't a deal breaker but I'm not lyrically driven like the general population. Think of it like a sort of rap thats the whitest type of rap imaginable. This is really my only complaint about the record and again I don't believe that its so big that it jeopardizes the overall experience.
So whats the final verdict on 'Kaputt'? Its original, its good sonic-ally, there are memorable songs and they tend to stick in your head. So all in all Destroyer did a great job.

Destroyer's 'Kaputt' gets 4 Germans out of 5



Tracklist:
01. Chinatown
02. Blue Eyes
03. Savage Night at the Opera
04. Suicide Demo for Kara Walker
05. Poor in Love
06. Kaputt
07. Downtown
08. Song for America
09. Bay of Pigs (Detail)