Dan Deacon Spiderman of the Rings

• Words: Joe Colly
• Label: Carpark
• XLR8R Rating: /10

A member of Baltimore art collective Wham City, Dan Deacon built his reputation with floor-shaking live performances of manic, homemade electro-pop stitched together with ramshackle equipment. He brings the same spastic energy to Spiderman of the Rings, an inventive (albeit wacky) recording that whips distorted chipmunk vocals and hyperactive synths into impossibly catchy party anthems. Fortunately, Deacon's ear for structure and melody counterbalance the album's ADD qualities, and Spiderman ultimately succeeds as a result of that symmetry. The record stumbles briefly when Deacon slows down between bangers, as on the twee-ambient "Big Milk," but the finest tracks here–"The Crystal Cat" and "Okie Dokie"–make for pure celebration, tweaked out in the best possible way.