Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange
by Mark Rowland
published: 8 / 6 / 2009

Label:
4AD
Format: CD
intro
Dynamic and ethereal latest EP from prolific Atlanta-based lo-fi band Deerhunter
The boys of Deerhunter are incredibly prolific, releasing two excellent records last year, ‘Microcastle’ and the ‘bonus’ ‘Weird Era Cont'. Add to that the sheer number of great singles put up on their blog for free by singer Bradford Cox in his Atlas Sound guise. The official Atlas Sound album, ‘Let the Blind Lead Those who See but Cannot Feel’, was also released last year, with another one forthcoming, and now the band have released the ‘Rainwater Cassette Exchange’ EP, with a limited run of cassette copies being sold at their shows, and a somewhat less limited digital and CD release available everywhere else. The sound of ‘Rainwater…’ essentially follows the ‘Microcastle’ sound – at once dynamic and ethereal, with swirling shoegaze influences, driving rhythms and surfy guitar twang, but it is a fuzzier, lo-fi version of that sound, perhaps a deliberate reflection of the underground, word-of-mouth 1980s cassette culture they are paying homage to. The title track certainly occupies the surfier end of their sound - with its chiming guitars, woozy reverb and a rhythm that shifts between gentle swing and crunchy stomp. It sort of sounds like the Beach Boys covering My Bloody Valentine. ‘Disappearing Ink’ is rockier, a distorted bass propelling the song forward while guitars clang and shimmer around it. In the centre of it all, Cox’s vocals float above it lazily, both dreamy and desperate at the same time. ‘Famous Last Words’ is a mid-paced fuzzy march with a theremin line hovering eerily above the mix. ‘Game of Diamonds’ is an acoustic strum along that could have been recorded on a California beach one balmy evening (never mind the fact that the band are from Atlanta, Georgia), while closer ‘Circulation’, a spacey stomp all from beginning to end, is split in two halves, with vocal harmonies at one end, and a cut up collage of sound bites at the other – another feature of the 80s lo-fi scene’s cassette culture.
Track Listing:-
1 Rainwater Cassette Exchange2 Disappearing Ink
3 Famous Last Words
4 Game Of Diamonds
5 Circulation
Label Links:-
http://www.4ad.com/https://www.facebook.com/fourad/
https://twitter.com/4AD_Official
https://plus.google.com/explore/4AD
live reviews |
Scala, London, 18/5/2009 |
![]() |
At the Scala in London, Mark Rowland watches Atlanta punks Deerhunter play an impulsive, yet charismatic and powerful set |
most viewed articles
current edition
Peter Doherty - Blackheath Halls, Blackheath and Palace Halls, Watford, 18/3/2025 and 21/3/2025John Philip Shenale - Interview
Max Bianco and the BlueHearts - Troubadour, London, 29/3/2025
Reichenbach Falls - Interview
Yardbirds - Interview with Jim McCarty
Armory Show - Interview with Richard Jobson
Editorial - April 2025
Repomen - Interview
Dream Machine - Hare and Hounds, Birmingham, 6/11/2024
Pennyblackmusic - Writers and Photographers' Albums of the Year 2024
most viewed reviews
current edition
Gabriel Moreno - Nights in the Belly of BohemiaIvor Game - When Will You Fall Into My Loving Arms?
Mystery Fix - Life to Life
Ergo Phizmiz - Selected Ambient and ASMR Works 2001-2003
Burning Hell - Ghost Palace
Gemma Hayes - Blind Faith
Various - Ambientale
Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus - Devotion to a Noble Ideal
Creve Couer - Catastrophes
Bryan Ferry and Amelia Barrett - Loose Talk
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart