Search and Destroy

Canadian indie rock act Destroyer launches its North American tour Sept. 23 at WOW Hall. They’re supporting their 14th studio album, Dan’s Boogie. Destroyer is fronted by Dan Bejar, occasional member of the popular Canadian indie pop band The New Pornographers. Bejar went to the Lou Reed school of singing-talking. But where Reed is all chesty baritone, Bejar tells lyrically dense, erudite tales of urban life and modern neurosis in a thin, reedy tenor, alternating between piano-man high camp and enigmatic rock star posturing. On that note, when asked if Bejar has any pre-tour rituals, he responds, “dramatic pacing.” On Dan’s Boogie, like all of Destroyer’s work, the music is keyboard-forward, with electronic elements recalling new wave music with an edge of Steely Dan’s blend of rock and jazz. Bejar came through Eugene not long ago, performing a solo acoustic set of deep-cut Destroyer songs at the Hult Center. This time he’s backed by a seven-piece band, so Bejar says with his trademark dry wit, “I duck down and get out of the way. I do a lot of listening, aside from the 90 seconds per song where I play the tambourine.” Bejar says that in the studio, Destroyer’s lineup is fluid. But on tour, “it’s been a pretty fixed lineup since 2012. I have confidence in them.” On the buoyant Dan’s Boogie songs like “Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World” — a title alone like a one-liner — Bejar delivers poetry like, “Mirthless husk floating on an ocean breeze, on the surface of the King of France.” Bejar says, “The words always come first. There was a time when it showed up together. But now it’s very much a lyrical thing. I don’t know what kind of sonic world they can exist in. But it’s like, if I don’t have the words, I have nothing. When the words show up, that’s the thing.”

Destroyer plays with Toronto-based singer-songwriter Jennifer Castle, 7:30 pm Tuesday, Sept. 23, at WOW Hall, 291 West 8th Avenue. Tickets are $25 advance, $30 at the door. All-ages.

A Note From the Publisher

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