Louisville’s Invaders might just be my favorite local act. They certainly could be the second loudest (Lords takes first place for obvious reasons). Invaders triumphantly achieve the coveted position of being difficult to categorize, which should by default pique your interest. Floating, their recently released debut for local label Karate Body, is a treble-heavy, noisy, yet viscerally accessible and pop-oriented body of work.

Invaders certainly take advantage of, in some ways, the resurgence of the no-fi aesthetic a la Psychedelic Horseshit and Times New Viking. However, Invaders rely on extremely tight song structures compared to the loosey goosey dissonance of the aforementioned. Snakey guitar, heavily distorted and subdued vocals, punchy rhythm, and general scratchy psychedelia rule over Floating, and the record is able to weave through oft disparate tempos and moods while remaining consistent and cohesive.

Invaders drift in the drug laments of Spacemen 3 on “Head Full of Rocks” (accompanied by the excellent backing vocals of the Sandpaper Dolls’ Amber Estes) and the noise pop of really early Yo La Tengo on “The Flu.” “Charmer” amalgamates a garage punk ethos with a decidedly shoegazey flavor. “Centipede” is pure stoner rock – Hawkwind, Dead Meadow, etc. And the title track sounds exactly like it should – ride heavy percussion, 4AD evocative dreamy textures, and a vaguely romantic swagger juxtaposed against late ’60s acid melodies. Light a doob and get lifted.

Invaders evidently love all the same music I love. Hence, I love Floating.

For fans of:  Spacemen 3, Times New Viking, 13th Floor Elevators

Fagen-Becker Quality Rating

You Louisville-and-surrounding-area bros and broettes can see Invaders August 7th on the Glassworks Rooftop. And guess the fuck what – they’re also playing the Marmoset show on September 18th at Skull Alley.

MP3 :::
Invaders – Charmer
Invaders – Floating

Deerhunter played last week in my favorite city in the nation, San Francisco, at Noise Pop.  Deerhunter’s entire performance is available above, which is exciting for me as Deerhunter is one of, like, maybe three new-ish bands that I care about and are 110% worth a damn.  The show sounds real good, though it’s weird not hearing B. Cox’s voice liquified by swells of reverb.

Post-punk pioneers Wire were oft recognized as a group in a strange nether region – one that was too artsy to be punk, too punk for the art kids.  Wire was angular and minimal, with gorgeous melodies remaining subtle and rewarding.  As such, it makes total sense to extract those under-the-surface pop structures, add dense layers of sound that the band sometimes hinted at, and reimagine this begrudgingly poppy gem as shoegazing, whose artists also tended to be begrudgingly poppy. 

Covers of the song “Outdoor Miner” (from Chairs Missing) spanning ten years or more eventually all ended up on a limited release compilation called A Houseguest’s Wish from the Words on Music label.  Flying Saucer Attack’s reimagining of the song, with a 1995 copyright date, indicates one of the last recordings from the original Flying Saucer Attack before Dave Pearce disappeared for a while. Flying Saucer Attack, as expected, provides the loudest rendition.

Lush’s dream pop interpretation keeps closest to the original structure of “Outdoor Miner,” while Austin neo-shoegaze collective Experimental Aircraft tastefully expands the song into a bombastic, anthemic, hummable wall of sound with a driving groove.  Enjoy this rare treat!

MP3 :::
Flying Saucer Attack – Outdoor Miner
Experimental Aircraft – Outdoor Miner
Lush – Outdoor Miner

For example, did you know that there’s a popular theory circulating among the Intarwebz and evangelicals stating that Barack Obama could be the Antichrist? Not so much in a political sense (oh noes! socialized medicine!), but in a “Bible predicted this, ya’ll” sort of way. Pretty neato skeeto.

Obama’s popularity is beyond a fever pitch here in Chicago, so I don’t have much of a litmus test concerning his popularity nationwide. I mean, he’s a rockstar in Chicago. You can buy shirts at Urban Outfitters. My understanding, though, is that Barackorama is quite pervasive everywhere. It makes sense – this is a logical equal-and-opposite reaction to the fear-induced eight years of “what to do/not to do lest the terrorists win” sort of mindset.

According to a (I assume) fringe doctrine however, Obama’s national popularity, international adoration, and general charisma parallels interpretations of Revelation’s Antichrist. McC seems to already be on this tip. Jesus W. Christ.

First, let me say that I’m certainly voting for Obama, whether he’s the Antichrist or not (sorry mom). I’ve already demonstrated that I have an apocalyptic death wish, but that is neither here nor there. There’s a sweeping array of reasons as to why Barack has earned my vote, but I’d rather not make this a political entry, per se, since I alredy did that on niner eleven. Not only does Obama provide the answers for the issues most important to me – the environment and health care – as well as offer a political and social paradigm shift, but he also seems like he would groove to Microcastle. John McCain doesn’t. And if you can’t groove to Microcastle, I can’t groove with you. Plus, I really like him. Isn’t it time to have a likable, non-slimy POTUS?

Five minute Photoshooop!

I also have to say that, being a young and left-leaning moderate raised in the most racially integrated landscape yet, I would feel quite shitty about the first black president also being the Antichrist through simple happenstance. I mean, the apocalypse would harsh my mellow as well, but the former point is totally a bummer. That would really set back race relations for the remaining time on our planet, among other things.

Anyway, a “barack obama antichrist” search query yields approximately 384,000 results. A number of headlines and websites keep the Antichrist gears turning. Everything’s been cited – from his charisma and international sycophancy, to his connections with Islam (which amounts to, um, his name and a little circumstantial evidence), to his temple-like DNC podium, to various other 666-branding claims and general, insurmountable snake-handlin’ Protestant poppycock. Conservative Christian author Hal Lindsey wrote in WorldNetDaily, “Obama is correct in saying that the world is ready for someone like him — a messiah-like figure, charismatic and glib … The Bible calls that leader the Antichrist. And it seems apparent that the world is now ready to make his acquaintance.” News Blaze compiles many coincidences between the conditions Revelation lays out for the Antichrist rollin’ through and the current worldwide climate. Zounds!

And then there’s the emails that may have made it to your inbox with a big ol’ nasty FWD in the subject:

According to the Book of Revelations the anti-christ is: The anti-christ will be a man, in his 40s, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with persuassive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal…. the prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in power, will destory everything. Is it OBAMA??

::: ::: :::

How long is the beast allowed to have authority in Revelations? Guess the Answer? Revelations Chapter 13 tells us it is 42 months, and you know what that is.

Almost a four-year term to a Presidency!

ZOMG!!1111!!! IS IT TEH OBAMAZ?!?!11one!?!!

Amazing.

Snopes has already debunked this. Ron Reagan and Bill Jeff Clinton received the same treatment as well, but without the help of the Intarwebz so their run for Antichrist was not as well documented.  Now… this whole recurring “X or Y is the Antichrist” theme seems to suggest that many of our politicians and lawmakers in the free world share qualities with the Antichrist, no matter how you slice it. How does that make you feel? Makes me feel crummy, personally. I have no deep analysis on this issue though, as I’m not a Bible scholar (I do have a poli sci minor though, but it doesn’t help). I just think the whole thing is fascinating.

Anyway, I thought I’d share this with you, dear reader, for somethin’ to chew on. Fringe Nostradamus-eque theories are always interesting to me, whether they’re lulz-worthy or not. If this theory is true, though, my girlfriend and I are gettin’ our asses to church and will start watchin’ The 700 Club instead of House.

But ya know, maybe I sorta want Obama to be the Antichrist. Considering the Rapture… the thought of having, at the very least, a couple of days without evangelical morons on the planet sounds really appealing to me. Plus, I’ve never looted before. I’d like to do that before I die.

MP3 :::
The United States of America – The American Metaphysical Circus
I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness – We Choose Faces

This leaked rather quickly. Microcastle doesn’t come out until October, but you can catch some of the tracks floating around the Internet if you act fast. You can also just enjoy the stream on Deerhunter’s MySpace. I’m sad they changed their profile around… right before Cryptograms came out, they posted all the bad press they’ve received up to that point on their “about me” section, which I thought was decidedly excellent.

Though I have mixed feelings about some of the songs, “These Hands” (not to be confused with The Guess Who’s equally righteous “These Eyes”) is everything you would ever want to hear on a Kranky release. LOTS OF TREMOLO, and in the universe that the Decibel Tolls occupies, tremolo is the key to success. It seems Deerhunter might be moving away, slightly, from the deluge of noise found on Cryptograms and Flourescent Grey, toning down the wigouts and bringing the vocals up to the front. However, Microcastle, thus far, still seems to preserve just enough of their renowned spaciness to keep things interstellar. The piano and drone coda of “These Hands” provokes the feeling of an excellent Boards of Canada segue or any given Ghost Box artist.

Though I’m totally stoked to see groups like Deerhunter, Animal Collective, and the like get their dues, I still find it peculiar that these relatively odd groups are getting so popular. Perhaps that’s the power of Pitchfork? Of course, I’m very glad that more people are listening to dronerific jams like Deerhunter, and would rather have our collective tastes pushed toward that end of the spectrum than toward borecore artists like Vampire Weekend. Maybe that’s just me. The world needs to be a stranger place, and Deerhunter is helping to make that happen.

Come see Bradford Cox in a dress at one of these fine shows. They’re supporting Nine Inch Nails for most of these dates, which is totally weird:

07/31 Charleston, SC: The Map Room
08/01 Norfolk, VA: The Boot
08/05 Toronto, ON: Air Canada Centre
08/06 Buffalo, NY: Big Orbit’s Soundlab
08/07 Uncasville, CT: Mohegan Sun Arena
08/08 Worchester, MA: DCU Center
08/10 Pittsburg, PA: Garfield Artworks
08/11 Morgantown, WV: 123 Pleasant Street
08/12 Knoxville, TN: Knoxville Civic Coliseum
08/13 Atlanta, GA: Gwinnett Arena
09/02 Morrison, CO: Red Rock Pavillion
09/03 Salt Lake City, UT: E Center
09/05 Oakland, CA: Oracle Arena
09/06 Inglewood, CA: The Forum

MP3 :::
Deerhunter – These Hands

I’m still blown away every time I consider that this album, their one and only eponymous record, was recorded in 1967!

The United States of America was so far ahead of its time that it sounds futuristic even today. “The American Metaphysical Circus” provides a starting point for the marriage of psych pop with soaring melodic choruses, noise flourishes, and electronic structures adopted later by groups like Broadcast, Need New Body, early Stereolab, et al. Also make note of wonderfully drugged out lyrics: “and the price is right, the cost of one admission is your mind.” Word. “Heresy” is a better and more interesting outtake of “Coming Down” off the original release, and almost evokes a very distinct baroque flavor that, despite its major key tendencies, feels somewhat ominous. Hands down one of the most underrated artists of the ’60s.

MP3 :::
The United States of America – Heresy
The United States of America – The American Metaphysical Circus

Happy America Day…