Song of the Week: Atlas Sound-Mona Lisa

Atlas Sound is the solo project of Deerhunter's Bradford Cox, and the releases are often eclectic but threaded with golden bits of pop. Rarely, however, does a whole song come to pop fruition like "Mona Lisa", off of the new-ish Parallax. "Mona Lisa" isn't exactly new--a demo version was released on Bedroom Databank Volume 3--but it's the most candy-sweet thing Cox has ever done solo, and all the better for it. [1. If you like it, both are worth a listen. It's like the difference between the Velvet Underground's Loaded and Fully Loaded. And it sounds a bit like the Velvet Underground as well.] The beginning is Cox doing his best Buddy Holly impression (see the album cover, above), asking "how many fantasies / were interrupted by / a hundred galaxies / that were drifting by?" The chorus, however, is more trademark Cox, with the driving drums, chugging guitar, and obscure lyrics "The Mona Lisa's got you all." The mix of Cox the crooner and Cox the sound experimenter balances perfectly on "Mona Lisa," and it's miles better than anything on that Rihanna album.