Microcastle

Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox has established himself as a critical part of the indie-rock scene. His music is unpredictable and sometimes challenging, but even in his most experimental moments there is a vulnerable human-ness that makes it accessible. Microcastle puts Cox and his band firmly on the path to producing cohesive songs with beginnings, middles and ends, and they’re not just songs with all the right parts; they’re astoundingly accessible and memorable to boot. Guitarist Lockett Pundt’s contributions — on vocals as well — are a real plus, and from the lulling “Agoraphobia” to the ‘60s pop charm of “Little Kids” and “Saved by Old Times,” Microcastle offers plenty of well above-average indie pop. Cotton-candy shoegazer “Never Stops” has a sad, lyrical feel, and “Calvary Scars” and “Activa” are wrapped in the ambient twinkle of Cox’s solo work as Atlas Sound. The gloriously dreamy “Neither of Us, Uncertainly,” and the Yo La Tengo-ish “Nothing Ever Happened” are strong contenders for Best of Show, but we give the award to the purely Deerhunter “Microcastle” which fools us all for the first two minutes with its airy, twee weightlessness before morphing into a sonic tsunami.