Mickey wrote:Streethawk: A Seduction (2001) The first of the great records. Still working in the tighter vein of the early releases (at least compared to what comes later) but you can see the sound getting more complex (especially on tracks like "The Bad Arts"). It's also the first album that feels like it was conceived as an album and not just a collection of songs--the pacing in particular is really strong. You can hear a lot of Bowie here. "English Music" has been a long-time favorite.
This Night (2002) It'd be wrong to call This Night a departure in style from Bejar's earlier work--it's still guitar music, at the end of the day. But compared to the relatively tight, controlled songwriting of Thief and Streethawk, This Night really opens up towards maximalism, exploding those tendencies which were latent in the earlier works. Probably my favorite of the early albums, its strongest feature is its command of range, from the drone of "Hey Snow White" to the oddly tender "Goddess of Drought." But the album really shines in the boozier tracks, like a bar band at the end of the night.
i made a spotify playlist using the songs you've posted so far and then pressed a button (Enhanced) i've never seen on the app before, probably because i don't make a lot of playlists. when i pressed it, a bunch more Destroyer songs of varying albums were added, along with other indie artists...the walkmen, CYHSY to name a couple. i removed all but the Destroyer songs. This one made my ears perk up.