Deerhunter

Deerhunter is a US indie rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2001 and active since then. The group’s line-up includes Bradford Cox, Moses Archuleta, Lockett Pundt and Josh McKay, and the broader membership list also includes Josh Fauver and Frankie Broyles. The band works across indie rock, ambient, lo-fi, neo-psychedelia, noise pop, noise rock, shoegaze and experimental music.

Formation and sound

Deerhunter begins with Bradford Cox on vocals, guitar and piano; Moses Archuleta on drums and synths; Lockett Pundt on guitar, organ and vocals; and Josh McKay on bass and vocals. The group sets out to combine the immersive qualities of ambient and minimalist music with the drive and distortion of garage rock. Its early history includes changing line-ups and the death of a member.

Recordings and releases

Cryptograms, the band’s second full-length album and first for Kranky, takes almost two years to complete. Parts of it are recorded in difficult sessions in 2005, with later recordings made in one day the following year. The album is followed by the Fluorescent Grey EP, which earns “Best New Music” status from Pitchfork, and the Whirlyball 7-inch single, pressed in a run of 200 copies and sold through Criminal Records in Atlanta as both a record and a ticket to a show featuring The Carbonas, Selmanaires and The Coathangers.

Microcastle arrives in 2008 after being accidentally leaked earlier in the year, with the companion release Weird Era Cont. issued on the physical edition. Both releases are strongly received, with Pitchfork giving Microcastle a 9.2 and “best new music” and Tiny Mix Tapes placing the set at number one in its year-end list. The band follows it with the Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP in 2009.

Later albums and changes in membership

Halcyon Digest is released on 4AD in 2010 and appears on NME’s list of the 50 best albums of that year. Deerhunter makes its US broadcast television debut on Conan in December 2010, performing “Helicopter”.

Monomania follows in 2013 as the band’s sixth album and its first without Josh Fauver. Frankie Broyles and Josh McKay are added around this period. Fading Frontier comes out in 2015, after Bradford Cox is seriously injured in Atlanta in a car accident the previous year; it is his first musical output after that incident. Broyles leaves the band to focus on his solo career.

In 2018, Javier Morales joins as a permanent member, and the band tours the US and Europe. A cassette-only release, Double Dream of Spring, is sold on that tour and consists mainly of instrumental and experimental pieces. The eighth studio album, Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?, follows in 2019. Later that year, Deerhunter releases the 12-minute single “Timebends”, recorded live direct to tape in one take with minimal overdubs and mastered through a fully analogue signal chain.