Todd RoethArtist: Blitzen TrapperAlbum: Destroyer of the VoidLabel: Sub PopRelease Date: Today,

Published 7:00 am Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Todd RoethArtist: Blitzen TrapperAlbum:

Destroyer of the VoidLabel: Sub PopRelease Date: Today, June 8Rating (Skip, Stream, Buy): SkipDownload:

“Heaven and Earth”Blitzen Trapper scores the “experimental” tag with regularity and with good reason: the Portland, Ore. crew are a torrent of suggestions and ideas. On their latest Sub Pop album, Destroyer of the Void, they blend acoustic folks and electric indie rockers with bursts of grandiose arena rock a la Queen, sometimes in the same song (see the title track). Too often, it’s too much.Many good ideas stacked on top of each other do not make a better idea. At least not in this case. Devendra Banhart is a master of fusing disparate noises and melodies for the better. But for Bitzen Trapper, it make their jams unlistenable. But even when there is a cohesive sound, singer Eric Earley seems dead set on taking the lyrics and songs on never-ending tangents, leaving Destroyer — though not without its positive moments — completely without flow, sounding like a bunch of unfinished experiments. It’d be great if they finished just one.