Pitchfork Music Festival 2011, Saturday: Destroyer

Sax. Can you talk about Destroyer without talking about the saxophone? You can't, so let's get it over with—Dan Bejar's sophisticated pop group relies on trumpet, and yes, saxophone to carry his songs forth into smoother (chamber) pop territory. If you're a lazy journo, you mention Steely Dan and move on to the next band, but I won't do that. If sax is a dealbreaker for you, Destroyer did us the honor of an early out as the set opened with almost perpetual saxing of our eardrums on "Chinatown." Past that and intrigued by Destroyer's fairly affect-less performance (later in the set, Bejar held the mic stand like a cane and gestured a bit but it took a while for him to loosen up and find a debonair lothario mode), I hung in for the long-run and was glad I did.

For one, Bejar's band draws on more Anglo influences than I ever noticed before, obscure British outfits like the Orchids and Hopkirk & Lee came to my mind but will mean nothing to you. Serge Gainsbourg and Scott Walker, perhaps? In any case, once I could see Destroyer in the same light as say, Pulp, except doing a kind of Leonard Cohen thing, I had a way in. Bejar's voice, kind of a weasel-like cross between David Berman and Dylan at times, actually worked for me, too. Though any delicate vocalizations he did hardly traveled past the first 50 punters on the field.

But Bejar's romance-laden lyrics did travel and words like "you send me a coffin of roses" got the message across, even on a sun-baked day. With an able and active band that's no stranger to an e-bow, electronic snare drum or perky ’80s bassline when it serves the tune, Bejar never let the set settle into routine. His band could throw down a healthy groove when needed. I briefly thought of Paul Young—a soulful British pop singer for you youngins.

A flute lead about a half hour into the set convinced me that I've never given Destroyer (a band with an imposing discography) enough of my critical time. With tonight's version of "Painter in Your Pocket," the band and Bejar had my full attention—and lyrics about 2002, a time when we needed "reminding to stay alive" also hit the mark with me. It's not easy to pull off this kind of music in a fest setting and Destroyer, despite negligible stage presence, still made it work.