Baltimore experimentalist/performance art puppet-master/beardo kewpie Dan Deacon has a rep as the king of the electronic candy store, spinning all manner of sugar-synthesized pop treats into crazy-danceable shout-along anthems. America (Domino), Deacon’s latest, changes the script a bit, probing the insane contradictions inherent in these United States. While more serious in subject (it was inspired by Deacon’s 2007 European tour and undeniable sense of his own American-ness), the album is rife, as always, with throbbing beats, spiraling samples and stroboscopic melodies. From the swelling ebullience of “True Thrush” to the more ruminative swaths of “USA,” a meditation in four pulsing movements, the stuff America is made of will make you think and make you move, possibly at the same time.
Thu., Nov. 15, 8:30 p.m., $13-$15, with Height With Friends, Chester Endersby Gwazda and Alan Resnick, Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., 215-232-2100, utphilly.com.
