Stereogum Does CMJ: Deerhunter Performs New Song "Calvary Scars" @ Bowery Ballroom
On a night of a No Age onstage party, a Deacon-led parted party, and a party party party, Deerhunter tore down the night's hyperactive madness and reshaped it with an outstanding, slowly swelling set. Here's a treat from the show for afficianados: The first post-Fluorescent Grey track we've heard yet, veering clear of the bands stormier tendencies (musically, at least -- lyrics are dark of course), instead melding their trademark, ritualistic throb with some Person Pitchy melodies.
What's it about? According to Bradford, it involves crucifiction, black metal, and a bloodied adolescent. His explanation, lyrics, and an MP3 demo of the track below.
Via the Deerhunter blog:
Calvary Scars is a new Deerhunter song we have been perfoming recently. I would like it to be part of a three song suite that would sit in the middle of "Microcastle." In this cycle I would like to attempt, though I'll probably fail, to kill off the adolescent character that haunts everything I write.Cox then posts a gripping, bloody photo of a unclothed boy being crucified by his hero, Gaahl, the towering, ex-con vocalist for Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth. Bradford adds: "This shit, Iwas told is real." (As a footnote, he explains the pic is by the esteemed documentary photographer Peter Beste and is clearly not pornographic, because "Pornography is sexually explicit material meant to elicit a sexual response. That clearly is not the intention here. Pete is a documantary photographer and captures images and events as they occur in real life." He adds: "So spare me.")
"Calvary Scars" is meant to be from the boy's perspective. The lyrics:
----
crucified on a cross in front of all my closet friends
crucified on a a cross (in front)
crucified by my hero who supplies the cross and nails
crucified with backstage passes
crucified on drum throne
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
crucified on cross revealed, finest wood and rope so thick
my arms, my wrists, would bleed for days
my arms, my wrists, would bleed for
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
----
Take a demo, transposed to a lower key for in this incarnation as an Atlas Sound track:
Atlas Sound - "Calvary Scars" (MP3)
Enjoy.
Posted at 12:44 PM in MP3, Video
Tags: Deerhunter
"The first post Cryptograms track we've heard yet"
you never heard the Flourescent Grey EP? coooooomme on....
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of course we have, dude. that was, how they say, cmj mind haze. fixed, thanks.
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The "Deerhunter Blog" link is broken, fyi.
The song and video are both fantastic, thanks for the post!
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you guys haven't heard "after school"? it's post fluorescent grey, and it's probably the best thing they've done as a band. this sounds pretty awesome though.
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If the rest of Microcastle is similar to this, i think it'll be a great record..
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This sounds pretty good, could be great when they've worked on it a bit. Kind of a monumental feel to it.. 'After Class' off the Rare Book Room compilation is indeed very nice and probably the first proper post-Fluorescent Grey song from them, check the Rare Book Room myspace page to hear it cause the disc isn't released yet.
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oh whoops, i called it "after school". my bad.
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