When Deastro mastermind Randolph Chabot sings, "I'm a prophet of how things should be," he's not kidding, as far as I'm concerned. This is a fantastic album. Everything about it is close to perfect. Even the artwork for it is pretty much perfect. Chabot is an ambitious guy: his music is grandiose and majestic, like church music with a dance beat; meanwhile, his lyrics reference literature from Cormac McCarthy to medieval poetry (in the same stanza). He's young, he's talented and he's got a lot to beat his chest about.
Most of the tracks feature a traditional band with guitar, bass and drums and peppered with lots of synths. Besides sometimes sounding like disco church music, Deastro's songs remind me a bit of Deerhunter and Wolf Parade (maybe it's all that cavernous reverb), but a lot of the melodies seem more "naive" and carefree-sounding. New Order must also be mentioned, which seems like a clear reference point on "Kurgan Wave Number One" in particular. There's also a distinct Beach Boys-via-Panda Bear influence, which Chabot seems to directly acknowledge by directly quoting the vocal melody of "Bros" toward the end of one of the songs, the epically-titled "Daniel Johnston was stabbed in the heart with the MOONDAGGER by the King of Darkness and his Ghost is writing this song as a warning to all of us!"
There are two instrumentals on Moondagger and both are so well done that you realize this guy could easily get by without even bothering with lyrics. However, Chabot's lyrics are pretty great for the most part. Besides the literary references, religion (and perhaps the subversion of religion) comes up a lot: "I’m dancing for the world with a pentecostal fervor/While sonny the druggy cherokee gets his face kicked in/I’ve got a boombox blaring backward hallelujahs/I’ve got your picture in my pocket stained with rainbow watermarks." But even when he's writing a more traditional song of heartbreak, he saves himself from mediocrity via great lines like these (which to my mind recall Faust): "I’ll access the stars/I’ll read between the lines/Consort with scientists and maniacs/oh to find/A way back home a way back to your arms".
I realize that most of you aren't going to feel the way I do about this album, but I hope you'll give it a chance. The Pitchfork reviewer (I know I mention them too much) seemed almost offended that Chabot even *tried* to make an album as great as this. I hope most people aren't as arrogant and jaded as a lot of music critics seem to be - personally, I try not to lose my sense of wonder, my optimism, and most of all, my humility in the face of talent and hard work.
Maybe I feel compelled to say these things because this is the last review I'm finishing in this series. I hope you all like some of these albums half as much as I do - if not, I hope you all have music that you love just as much, or if not music, some other kind of art that fills you with joy and wonder the way the music of The Decemberists, John Zorn, Sunn 0))), Sunset Rubdown, Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, Passion Pit, Bibio, Deastro and M. Ward has filled me with their new albums these past six months. Stay tuned as tomorrow I will present the runners up, albums that are also great but didn't quite make my own personal top 10.
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