When going to watch a live performance of a band that holds a spot under the indie rock banner, it’s hard not to expect to hear a formula that has become predictable recently due to the sheer multitude of indie rock bands that have spawned in the past 10 or so years. Deerhunter’s show at the House of Blues on November 8 surprised and impressed. Deerhunter has existed in many incarnations since 2001 when they were formed by singer/guitarist Bradford Cox, and this one seems to have something that their peers do not. The ethereal combination of guitar effects and rich backing vocals offered a layer that most indie rock/post-punk bands lack live. Deerhunter played a feverish set of songs, barely pausing in between numbers that ranged from simple melodic tunes that could easily have been ’60s pop, to bass, drum, and distortion-heavy tunes thematically strung together with the gratuitous use of feedback, culminating in Cox beating the back of a semi-hollow guitar to produce the desired effect.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about seeing Deerhunter live, however, is watching them claim their place in obscure music history.  Unlike the hundreds of indie bands that all seem to have popped up in the same period of time, Deerhunter acts more as a bridge from yesterday’s post-punk to today’s indie rock. It’s difficult not to compare them to bands like Sonic Youth, who themselves bridged the punk rock and grunge eras with their ambient, progressive, melody-laden songs. Much of Deerhunter’s performance was more akin to a heavily distorted jam band, marking a place for it in music history that no one will remember.