Dan Deacon: Bromst

Label: Carpark

Bromst is one hour of the most thrilling and exuberant pop we heard all year, as well as one of the most fresh, exciting and inventive in the electronic-pop field. Deacon, of Baltimore’s aptly hyped Wham City collective, once again combines cartoonish hyper-electronica a la Raymond Scott with new-wave rock and dance rhythms, creating long, slow-building songs steeped in melody and the pop avant-garde. If you found Deacon’s previous effort, 2007’s Spiderman of the Rings, a little too over-the-top and mind-numbing at times, well, so did I. What makes Bromst so noteworthy is Deacon’s growth as a producer and arranger. He introduces new sounds and genres, from thumb pianos to female vocal cut-ups, and, most important, he shrewdly slows things down once in a while. In short, he’s kept everything that made Spiderman so daring but has revealed new depths as an artist. Don’t deny yourself this one: It’s a blast.