The Misty Poets were a group of Mainland Chinese poets in the aftermath of the Cultural Revoltution (1976) through to the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989. They are known for the abstruse imagery found in their poems, due largely to the fact that during the time they wrote the political and literary climate in the People’s Republic of China loosened up to allow individualism only through the gauze of obscure themes. It’s a great “connect-the-dots” moment when Dan Bejar’s reedy voice drops among his many self-references a line about the Mistys on the swirling 'Introducing Angels'. Over drunk piano, dripping with ennui, Bejar sloughs it off, “A degenerate drunk on war, grace should guide me Misty Poets.”Listening through Bejar’s discography (Trouble in Dreams being his eighth solo album) it’s clear that his labyrinthine stabs at the “American underground,” are steeped in the same upright indie rock prostylizations he so fervidly condemns. The histrionic yelps, the duality of folk’s serenity/sensitivity being a bedfellow to punk rock’s masculinity/standoffishness are all present on the new album. The spirit of the Mistys is a palatable entity on Dreams as well.After Bejar’s subtle restraint on the unfairly panned arrangements he lent Sydney Vermont’s Hello, Blue Roses, (the arty Vermont made the cover of Dreams) some Destroyer fans are breathing a sigh of relief to hear the baroque rock master latched onto his main muse: demolishing the modern underground’s pretension by stockpiling his own. He still passes around the “da da da da’s” and “la la la la’s” with a cognizant wink. Like his work on Hello, Blue Roses though, Dreams is an understated work ”“ at least through the rear view mirror of Destroyer’s past. Trouble opts for the kind of loping baroque qualities found on the second-half of 2006’s Destroyer’s Rubies. The acerbic veracity of dissonant ebowed electric guitars and that propulsive acoustic from Rubies takes a backseat to a more introspective instrument ”“ the piano. Where, the title track of Rubies was its arguable triumphant let motif, Dream’s center is rotting on the shadowy piano apocalyptic, 'Shooting Rockets (From the Desk of Night’s Ape' (brilliantly reworked from its previous appearance on Swan Lake’s Beast Moans). “My dear, didn't you hear, a chorus is a thing that bears repeating. The problem, as I see it is girls stay away from that shit!”, Bejar announces a few minutes in, at nearly the place where the song should by all rights proffer one. More illuminating are these embittered lines, “It’s not that I quit / it’s not that my poems are shit / in the light of the privileges of dreams.” Though Bejar seems to be on a darker journey, Dreams contains some of the same lyrical threads found on previous albums.Bejar’s penchant for theatricality lends itself to digging up the grandiosity of each element ”“ the devil in the details I guess. On the intimate acoustic ballad, 'Blue Flower/Blue Flame', there's mention of a “sky that looks like wine” whereas the organ burbled, 'Libby’s First Sunrise’ chronicles the “terrible secrets of light” over the click-clack of hand claps. Over droning organs 'Foam Hands' repeated moniker thickens a story of a disintegrating relationship.All of this could point to a theme or like the female protagonist on 'River' I could be just flowing down another one of Bejar’s endless streams of consciousness ”“ ass over end. That’s all besides the point when it comes to Destroyer. You could pick his multi-tiered agendas apart like an English thesis or you could just appreciate the meandering and complex craft. I often find myself between the two poles, equally cross-referencing the politically charged 'The State' with 'Makin’ Angels' from This Night or 'Plaze Trinidad' up against Thief’s titular song, whilst bopping my head to Destroyer’s switchback diction and flourishing piquancy.  As a result Dreams delivers a more cohesive aesthetic through its experimentation. The light piano glissandos on 'Rivers' lean toward ragtime. The thunderous peals of soul organ on 'Leopard of Honor' melt into a wordless tambourine spiritual at the riverside.Dreams may not always contain the same melodic wit and turning of phrases that made Streethawk: A Seduction and Rubies the meteoric favorites of bloggers everywhere, but it slips into your veins like some strange hemlock you just have to imbibe. This may be due to the fact that Bejar’s backup band is the same mysterious cadre that worked on Rubies, save for drummer/saxophonist Scott Morgan.Like a musical version of Pascal’s Wager, its better to believe in Bejar’s mad ravings than stand by the sidelines. All that caustic wit was bound to put some chinks in his musical armor but Bejar pulls it off in the end. If you give it the chance, Trouble in Dreams proves to be a vertigo-inducing experience like nothing else you will hear this year. 81%mp3:> Destroyer: 'Dark Leaves'Links Destroyer [myspace] [buy it]