This new EP may be a bit of a victory lap after last year’s Microcastle/Weird Era Cont., but Deerhunter is not resting on their laurels: clearly using Microcastle as a jumping off point, Rainwater Cassette Exchange presents some of the band’s most accessible offerings yet, all be it with the unique touches that we’ve come to expect from them – like the highly tropical title track and “Game of Diamonds”, and the soaring, channel-flipping freak-out that ends “Circulation”.

8.3 / 10

Kranky
June 9, 2009

On their third album, Deerhunter move away from their noisy, instrumental sound in favor of something that sounds like a far more palatable and enjoyable fusion of 60s psychedelic pop and 90s rock, and the change is for the better: rather than challenging you with noise and distortion, most of Microcastle floats on catchy riffs and dreamy vocals, immersing you in it’s strange warmth and keeping you satisfyingly addicted.

Weird Era Cont.: Microcastle comes with a second disc of material that constitutes an entire second album entitled Weird Era Cont. While far less immediate and more of a stepping stone from their previous work, the extra disc is enjoyable, atmospheric, and far from just random bonus stuff.

Score: 4.4 / 5

August 5, 2008
Kranky, 4AD