Deafheaven
The 30 Best Songs of 2021
A pair of rappers pulling off the best Tom Tom Club sample since Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy” (G Perico & Rucci), an iconic New Wave band trafficking in tongue-in-cheek nostalgia (Duran Duran), a blackgaze act embracing their love of vocal harmony (Deafheaven), and psych-rockers using the shopping mall as a metaphor for capitalist greed (My Morning Jacket) — SPIN‘s 30 Best Songs of 2021 offer something for everyone. For our latest year-end track recap, we kept our overall sorting process the same as 2020: For a cut to be eligible, it needed to be one of two things: 1) a stand-alone single released in 2021 or 2) part of an album issued in 2021. 30. Beatrice Deer – “The Storm” The sound is so simple that, at first, it feels almost formless: a primal drum groove, shards of metallic elect...
Deafheaven Know Themselves Better Than Anyone Else on Infinite Granite
Deafheaven vocalist George Clarke was able to live a pandemic dream: He managed to get out of the States safely. His partner, a musician from New Zealand, was able to work and play shows over there; after completing Deafheaven’s latest record, Infinite Granite, Clarke was able to get a visa and spent January through late April of this year in the country. Though it took him a couple days to avoid sidestepping people as he often had to in Deafheaven’s home base of Los Angeles, he felt immensely grateful to see music (especially at a time when summer shows in the States seemed dicey) and be amongst people again. It did, however, feel like an alternate reality to some degree. “My experience was great, but it was interesting how, even though it was all over the news and people were very ...
Blast Rites: Dead Heat’s Crossover Heater Strikes Right on Time
Welcome to Blast Rites, SPIN’s monthly metal column! In this month’s edition, we’ve got catastrophically ripping thrash that’s an AOTY candidate, Florida death metal disciples joined by one of the genre’s early players, and new tracks from Darkthrone, Skepticism, and Deafheaven. (Our interview format will return next month. As punishment, Andy has to list everything from Agathocles’ discography in order, so as to spare his life. Harsh, but fair. Word is he’s only a third of the way there. How did he have the time to write this?) Dead Heat – World At War (Triple-B) Oxnard, California’s Dead Heat keep home close for inspiration, paying homage to Southern California crossover legends like Suicidal Tendencies, Dr. Know and Excel – punks who got metallized, essentially – while bringing their ow...
Deafheaven Share ‘Great Mass of Color’ Single From Upcoming Infinite Granite LP
San Francisco post-metal group Deafheaven announced their new album Infinite Granite — and with the announce arrived the “Great Mass of Color,” the first single from the set. It’s Deafheaven’s fifth studio album since 2011. Throughout the six minutes of “Great Mass of Color,” Deafheaven showcases their heavier rock side, while other points of the song are so peaceful as to induce somnolence. It helps that the single came accompanied by a mesmerizing visualizer of, well, a great mass of color. Listen to Deafheaven’s new single below. [embedded content] “Great Mass of Color” is the third track on the band’s forthcoming LP Infinite Granite, which arrives Aug. 20 via Sargent House. The album features production from Justin Meldal-Johnsen, who is known for his work with M83, Wolf Alic...
The 101 Best Albums of the 2010s
Why now? Because — and there’s no reason to ignore the elephant in the room: SPIN stewardship has changed hands many, many times since we made the online jump — we got our chance. Because plenty of our favorite albums of the last 10 years could still use a boost. Because some of the already unanimously beloved music on this list still merits further praise. Because we relish excuses to sound off on the music that’s affected us the most and to enlist some of our favorite writers to do so. Because the works of art below serve as a reminder that the 2010s weren’t all bad. Because lord knows we need the distraction. Because it’s fun. There’s a lot of music that isn’t on this list. Which, duh, but plenty of artists whose work defined the decade for many, many people, including many of us, ...
