Destroyer’s Rubies

People who buy Destroyer albums qualify less as fans than as disciples, said Jerry Dannemiller in the Columbus, Ohio, Dispatch. The decade-old band has shuffled members in and out, with the exception of leader Dan Bejar. Bejar, who also works with the Vancouver indie rock outfit the New Pornographers, has created a virtual cult of personality over the years, so that listening to one of his extended pieces is much like witnessing 'œan off-Broadway one-man show full of thespian zeal and whimsy.' His fans have to be obsessed because they face such complex, self-referential albums, said Christian Schaeffer in the Phoenix New Times. Rest assured that 'œas you read this, Bejar acolytes are furiously footnoting every mention of his old songs, albums, and motifs' in order to divine meaning from the tracks, which are dense with allusions, quotes, and lyrical wormholes. The first track, 'œRubies,' is nine minutes long, as if to test the commitment of its listeners before allowing them access. Once that threshold is crossed, the album proves to be Destroyer's best yet, featuring lush new instrumentation as opposed to the computer-generated beeps that characterized past CDs. As is the case with many geniuses, however, Bejar 'œfails to trim some of the fat,' said Colin Cameron in the Dallas Observer. 'œLooter's Follies,' for example, builds up promisingly but never delivers. Other tracks simply run on too long, downgrading an album that could have been a classic to one that's just very good.

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