Composer: Blitzen Trapper
Conductor: Blitzen Trapper
Label: Sub Pop
Release Date: 2010-06-16
Rated: NONE
Genre: Recording
With each album Blitzen Trapper gets more ambitious, even as they become more predictable. On 2008’s Furr, frontman Eric Earley got about as close as he could to making a Dylan/Dead/Band record without actually inventing a time machine to transport his band back to 1969. Destroyer of the Void, their fifth album, cools down a little, still evoking dusty Americana but finding some identity along the way. The album opens with the golden-rayed harmonies of the sprawling title track, sounding like a squishy Fleet Foxes leftover. But after a minute or so, “Destroyer of the Void” begins to spin a mix of double-tracked guitar runs, tiny synth burps, and spacey time shifts. It’s rather epic-sounding, which is Earley’s intention. He aims big on Destroyer of the Void, loading songs with tons of this and that, never quite settling down. Or settling into a groove. For all its big ideas, the album lacks actual songs. It’’s more like a series of elaborate multipart suites, with little guidance and no direction home.
