In some ways over the course of the past few years, Dan Bejar and his Destroyer compatriots have become the quiet, unsung kings of what some have described as "hyper literate indie rock." And while this label has no doubt stemmed from Bejar's labyrinthine lyricism, Destroyer has managed to counter any kind of pretension with a somehow unclassifiable brand of freewheeling blues, '70s R&B, bedroom folk, Roxy Music glam, and the occasional lo-fi garage crunch. A sound as comfortably steeped in the past as concerned with looking ahead towards its own unchartered territory.

Performing in support of their latest record, Trouble In Dreams, at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City, Destroyer brought their now-signature sound to a rabid, seemingly over-capacity house. The audience's attention was rapt from the opening electric strums of "Blue Flower/Blue Flame." Wasting no time, the band quickly segued from the sonically slight, albeit gorgeous opener to storming renditions of (the 9+ minute) "Rubies" and Trouble's passive-agressive ode to abandonment "Dark Leaves Form A Thread." Here, three songs in, was where Destroyer proved how deftly they're able to not only balance casual, effortless playing within their own air-tight structures, but how Destroyer is not just simply Dan Bejar. Without Nic Bragg's searing guitar accents, or Ted Bois' spiraling piano lines, Bejar's songs might not carry the weight that they do -- and he knows it.

Further solidifying itself as a full-on rock show, the band soon launched into the unabashed theatrics of "New Ways of Living," pulled from 2004's (maligned by many, deeply loved by others) Your Blues. The band made the reinterpretation of Blues' analog synth/drum machine compositions into 5-piece arrangements seem not just completely logical, but stunningly easy.

But perhaps the most refreshing element of the night was seeing Destroyer so fluidly hopscotch from the obligatory promotion of Trouble In Dreams, multiple times on over to 2002's This Night, and back to the land of Your Blues -- the band was clearly reveling in its own extensive catalog and enjoying every second of it. Which is probably why the bottle of Jameson being passed around on stage throughout the night seemed so particularly celebratory.

And while the audience seemed beyond satisfied three chords into the night, Destroyer waited until the near-end of its set to bring Trouble In Dreams most devastatingly beautiful number, "My Favorite Year" to life. Few fans would argue that the song is a career high for Bejar, but to see it performed live just further cemented it as such. With Fisher Rose's shameless 1983 tom hits and Nic Bragg's echo-laden soloing, the song was nothing less than dreamlike. In fact, two people by my side stood with their eyes closed, smiling and nodding in bliss for virtually the entire understated anthem.

After closing with the rapturous "Self Portrait With Thing (Tonight Is Not Your Night)," the band encored appropriately with Trouble's first single, the wistful balladry of "Foam Hands." After a brief pause and what appeared to be some on-stage hesitance, one of the most pleasant surprises of the evening revealed itself in the form of Your Blues' album closer "Certain Things You Ought to Know." On record, the song exists as a droned-out ambient send-off, concerned with the idea of disappearing, coming complete with the closing line "All a dagger can never be/Is a ship against the sea/Turning to snow..." On stage, this carried an immense power, possibly due in part to the audience seeming just as affected by the beauty in witnessing it as the band seemed to be in performing it live. Finally, closing the night with This Night's intentionally shambolic "Modern Painters," Dan Bejar and the band he's created demonstrated not just how essential it is musically to let go, and to break everything apart so that it can be rebuilt on site, but indirectly showed us how indispensable a piece of the modern musical landscape this band named Destroyer has become.

-Ben Zoltowski