Lotus Plaza is the side project of Deerhunter lead guitarist, Lockett Pundt.
His debut solo album was released in 2009, which has some strong material, but
failed on grabbing the listener’s ear. He returns after a strong Deerhunter
album in Halcyon Digest, and with the ability and belief to create and release
an album worth of the 'Lotus Plaza' name. His guitar style is rather vivid and
he plays with repetition in his front pocket. His work in Deerhunter is
minimalized by Bradford Cox, both equally outstanding musicians and masters of
the modern 'indie' sound. Lockett created the masterful 'Desire Lines', with its
heavy barre chord riff and eventual explosion of shoegaze driven effects to
create a three minute ending of noise. He hasn’t carried the Deerhunter name
into his solo work, he's only picked out himself and placed gives the listener
an album of his material, showing what he can do.
The short opener 'Untitled' has all the ingredients from the previous album with
an extra twinge of ambience added. It's not long before the second track and
most thrilling track, 'Strangers' enters. The drum count in is met with several
layers of electric guitar and a very heavy bass riff. This is what was
expected, and this is the sound that defines Lotus Plaza's second album.
Lockett rarely sings with Deerhunter, but when he does, a new light and a fresh
feel is delivered. He sings like he always has done, sounding present and
confident with great ability to hit the high notes whilst keeping his standard
'verse voice' intact. The back half is an excellent piece of music with several
more layered riffs which ultimately close the track off, introducing the
listener to Spooky Action At a Distance.
An achingly beautiful guitar riff impresses me on the following track 'Out
of Touch'. The vocals are a treacherous standout and Lockett adds great reverb
to his layered vocals. The drum pattern is very sporty and has one of those
moving rhythms rock music bolsters from time to time. It's ultimately a running
track that should be on your IPod 'Gym Playlist'. The synth riff on the left
speaker is unusual as this album is a consistent simple rock album, nothing
fancy, just rock. It's the delayed guitar and reverb that may make something
dreamy, but this music just doesn’t qualify because of its textures, the
lyrical themes and the clear dynamics that rock the sound in several different
ways. 'Dusty Rhodes' does add to the rock mood with its distortion and acoustic
guitar riff which naturally fits on this album. The vague breakdowns are
superb, as the following vocal delivery by Lockett is incredibly innocent and
helpless. He sounds like a 17 year old about to make the biggest decision of
his life, it's inspirational.
'White Galactic One' momentarily brings back the Deerhunter days, with the
instant heaviness and the punk attitude which broke Deerhunter into the scene
in the first place. Lockett gives his vocal in-between a much distorted guitar
riff, the eventual chorus is uplifting with a very slow vocal delivery,
surprising as the track is fast paced. The standout track 'Monoliths' follows.
It's the structure and the melody which catches my ear. The electric guitar
focuses on the right side is invigorating on the mood. The following verses are
incredible, with a guitar solo with some new drumming before erupting into the
final half and best musical segment on the album. Lockett sings a catchy tune
with the bass raised with the immense amount of noise increasing, "And
one of these days, I'll come around."
Monoliths does have a fade out, as you'd expect with a track with that type
of structure. The album isn’t quite complete yet, 'Jet Out of the Tundra'
enters gracefully. The bass hits like a blunt knife, creating space for the
following musical segments of bliss. The acoustic guitar has found its home on
this track, with the raised electric guitar slowly entering from behind with
the second bass. The drumming finds its place ad Lockett begins to sing. He
follows the melody as he should, with a careful elegance. It’s not until the
final third where things start to get advanced. The piano begins and the track
takes a turn from being a build-up, to a critical peak and end. The noise
cannot be resisted as mass amount of guitar layers enter and the track comes to
an abrupt stop. 'Eveningness' complies with the 'rules' and delivers the most
'dream pop' segment on the album. The chorus is lowered and the following bass
riff is eerie with a special sound that dream pop just has.. This vocal segment
closes off the track in repetitive style. It's unaware to the listener however,
as the guitars drone on and have many variations, with the delayed twinkly
guitar keeping its form throughout the track.
'Remember Our Days' has one of the best vocals on the album with Lockett rising
above the instrumental with his vocal. This is also the quietest and vaguest on
the album without an abrasive bass drone and the electronic drum beat. Lockett
plays to the best of his ability with the enduring guitar layers which
inevitably set the standard of the latter half of the track. The melody is phenomenal
as the stars are reached and the sound portrayed zones out in a completely
different universe compared to the down to earth electronic drum beat. it's a
spectacular instrumental that ends with a very solid piano key.
Lotus Plaza is a project worth looking out for. The vocal styles here are
not the best; however have personality among the layers of reverb. Lockett has
structure in his instrumentals and has that D.I.Y approach to his own
creations. The final track 'Black Buzz' is no exception, being my personal
favourite album closer of 2012 so far. The acoustic guitar rings loud with
Lockett singing a very eerie vocal hidden behind his effects. The dreamy
atmosphere returns and the opening instrumental Untitled is repeated in its
finishing form to close off the album where it began, with droning noise. It's
a terrific album by the Deerhunter guitarist and he deserves all the credit he
will no doubt receive in the coming future. This album is above the expected
standard and has its place in 2012 as the top side project, congratulations to
Mr Pundt for out doing Mr Cox.
~Eddie
8.3
