Lotus Plaza

***LOCKETT PUNDT’s (DEERHUNTER) first full-length is an expansive meditation on the modern history of the pop song with an obvious appreciation for the atmospheric vocal harmonies of the ‘50s, the Brill Building writers of the ‘60s, and the sounds of the early ‘80s postpunk UK scene. The production is multi-multi-layered with a seemingly endless amount of subtle detail in each track, while the vocals are generally low in the mix and add yet another layer to the sound. There are certainly references to Lockett's day job here, and it can be no other way as he is an integral part of that "other" group. But he clearly stakes a claim to his own sound here.

Red Oak Way starts the album off with a drumbeat and a ringing guitar hook and we are off and away on a space age pop trip. Quicksand hits next with some bouncing big beats that would not sound out of place on a classic Shangri-Las' song, and spiced with a dash of west coast surf city. These Years is the most understated track on the album, a slow haze of introspective rumination. Different Mirrors tips the hat to Martin Hannett with the opening dry reverbed thwack of a one-two beat before soaring into the stratosphere, while Whiteout is an ethereal hot summer day of dripping guitars and shakers.

Side 2 begins with What Grows, an unabashed rocker with snarling, spiraling guitars and a chugging undertow that clocks in at a perfect 3 minutes. Sunday Night slows it down and gives one time to recover before the gorgeous krautpsych swirl of Antoine, with beats seemingly nicked from a Harmonia album, leaves behind all earthly bounds. The title track is a densely layered spacewalk that leads into the final cut, Threaded Needle, wherein Lockett smartly sums up the proceedings by combining all of the above into a perfect closer.