Dunno why I gird myself so hard to dislike the music of Dan Deacon. I’ve even been a pretty big fan of Deacon’s more cartoony Spiderman of the Rings songs, despite their role in creating things like Ear Pwr and the general neon craze, and personally try to root for him because he seems like a genuine dude with big ideas and a nice dude at that. I also like to root for Deacon because everything he’s done over the past two records (and the many other assorted projects in between) has sounded like there’s something huge and of the utmost importance to the future of pop music waiting to burst forth in it, like a Here Come the Warm Jets or even bigger. That’s pretty exciting.Deacon’s push is into more top serious-style modern composition; it’s what he went to school for and as he’s gotten bigger he’s been more able to write that kind of music/been able to find people to play it (like So Percussion). And being able to get that kind of music into the ears of 19-year-old post-neons (and frat boys and NPR listeners and reformed indie-rockers, and beyond) is an awesome possibility. Deacon’s been smart to recognize this is a process over albums, not a sudden leap. So here’s “Lots,” the first song from Deacon’s new album America, out in August.“The album is a portrait of anger, confusion, and apocalyptic anxiety over corporatism and war,” goes the record’s announcement on the Domino website, “but one that finds consolation in the geography of the United States and in recent social movements both domestic and international.” OK, then.Reach this writer at michaelb@motherboard.tv.
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