Pitchfork
January 25, 2010
Link
8
A certain strain of recent indie rock seems to be taking an unusual interest in illness and death. You could blame Arcade Fire, the sad loss of whose family members only happened to lead to one of the most universally acclaimed independent releases of the past decade. Last year, the Antlers' Hospice focused an entire album on the subject of a man with terminal bone cancer. Now L.A. trio the Delta Mirror's upcoming Lefse debut, Machines That Listen, sets each of its nine songs in a different room of the hospital.
This slow, layered ballad "He Was Worse Than the Needle He Gave You" stands out not for its pathos-ridden subject matter-- I'm still not sure I know exactly what it's about-- but rather its restrained emotional gutpunch, which it achieves with a simple but catchy tune and dramatically expansive production. Imagine the Big Pink's electro-shoegaze explosions sounding vulnerable. "I've got too much time on my hands," goes a gothy male vocal, and before long we find out the reason why-- and the guy responsible won't fucking be held responsible. The next time the Delta Mirror sing those words, at the end of the song, their meaning has changed. Damage done.
