While the dad rock is a mostly welcome extension to Kaputt‘s tropical palette (think of it as moving from Christopher Cross to Steely Dan, and you get the idea -and yes, that’s a high compliment), the classical flourishes can come across as forced and a bit awkward. Where Kaputt was a summer-y ode to yacht rock, Poison Season seems to draw from two primary influences: orchestral ballads and ‘80s dad rock. That sense of frustration lives in Poison Season, the follow up to 2011’s glorious Kaputt. Bejar, who in interviews seems as annoyed by popularity and press as prime-era Bob Dylan, enjoys subverting expectations to such a degree that at times it feels like he’s intentionally getting rid of some good ideas because they sound too much like the last album. But from album to album, that uncertainty can grow frustrating, particularly in follow-ups to well-received and well-reviewed albums. Much of that is by design, of course -mastermind Dan Bejar is known to try to totally revamp the act’s sound with each record. Listeners never know what a new Destroyer album will sound like.
