Deerhoof vs. Evil

[alan nagsworth]

Another record from the noise-popsters has leaked online, and to be honest, I'm pretty disappointed with this one. 'Offend Maggie' was the best thing they'd done in ages, especially over the weak predecessor 'Friend Opportunity', but it looks like this one has slipped off kilter again and it's very hit and miss. The album title/sleeve art should have been enough of a warning here, as both are very dull and also alarmingly uncharacteristic of the band, I feel.

You can see where this follows on from 'Offend Maggie' in many ways, but it tries to lean too far into experimental waters and that's where it really fails. For a band who specialises in a different recording technique for every album they've ever done,[nb]and if anyone has any info on how this one was done, I'd be most appreciative[/nb] falling short due to experimentation is quite disheartening. There are bursts of energy here that were present on the previous album too, but the feedback loops and off-beat time signatures added on this one seem contrived and forced. Certainly not the engaging and bonkers genius of 'Spiral Golden Town', that's for sure.

My main issue here is also a minor issue that crept up on 'Offend Maggie' (particularly the god-awful 'Family Of Others'): The avant-garde stylings here and there leave a hell of a lot to be desired. Anything with vocals from anyone other than Satomi sounds like shit, and those kooky melodies are straying away from fun and too far into deliberate weirdness. Again, it sounds somewhat forced and I don't enjoy it nearly as much as the other direction they have meandered in, and that is the way of the unashamedly eye-poppingly infectious pop riff. They still do pop brilliantly on tracks like 'Hey I Can', but 'Must Fight Current' is a really bad song for the above reasons. I think this is because the mystery and intrigue usually came from either the subtle pop nuances or brooding menace of their old stuff, whereas it now seems to be a separate entity fighting for its own space in their music. Take the album 'Milk Man': The song 'Rainbow Silhouette Of The Milky Rain' is, for the most part, an air-punching life-affirming instrumental riot, but then suddenly in descends into a weird pit of bleeps and clangs, before clambering back out to a mighty and victorious finale. The subtlety there, however slight, is a great testament to their merging of sounds and styles. And on 'Giga Dance', we are treated to an unashamedly freakish and scary organ riff, the style of which is very much lost in their recent work in favour of this cavernous vibe of mystery. I find it a little bit testing.

It's not total shite, though; 'No One Asked To Dance' is a lovely little evening serenade that floats perfectly and carries an air of delicacy that the band has always managed to achieve in between their raucous noise-pop efforts of previous records. I'm glad they still haven't lost that touch, because even in 2009 tracks like 'Don't Get Born' were nailing that same aesthetic perfectly. With 'Super Duper Rescue Heads!', the awful title belies a splendidly quirky and joyous bounce that descends into chaos at the last minute, all done wonderfully and to great effect. 'C'moon' and 'I Did Crimes For You' are two very good songs, also, but being very close to the end of the album, they both remind me that there is an abrasive touch to this album that is distinctly missing. It's a very soft record, quite playful but lacking the garage-rock distortion edge of 'Offend Maggie'. Even though there are some good tunes, nothing really leaps out at me at all, and after two consecutive listens I'm finding myself more disappointed than pleased with this record.

Also the lyrics, from what I can make out, are pretty poor, and the production sounds weak in places.

[Vitalstatistix]

It's a very soft record, quite playful but lacking the garage-rock distortion edge of 'Offend Maggie'. Even though there are some good tunes, nothing really leaps out at me at all, and after two consecutive listens I'm finding myself more disappointed than pleased with this record.

I agree that this is definitely softer than Offend Maggie. Very much a move away from punky, garagy riffiness (which they do really well). But...

I have completely different feelings regarding the quality of the record. I LOVE it, definitely rekindled my love affair with this band (after being underwhelmed with them live). I am just playing the shit out of it, can't believe you don't find it as addictive as I do!

It's funny, like you I don't really go for their avant-garde moments, but I don't see this as a wilfully strange or difficult collection of songs. I see it as poppy, infectious, surprising and just so, so much fun. 'Super Duper Rescue Heads!', 'The Merry Barracks', 'Secret Mobilization' and 'I Did Crimes for You' have quickly gone near the top of all time fave Deerhoof songs. If I don't play this so much I end up hating it, this sounds like it could be second only to Runners Four for me.

It's a punchy, tight, cohesive record full of melodic weirdness, and that's an unusual blend that this band do sooo well. I think there's a lot going on in each song, yet the longest track is three and a half minutes, and for me that short and sweet approach works great for them.

[Muel 2]

Hooray!  I'm looking forward to hearing this.  I've only heard 'Rescue Hands' so far but it's my favourite thing from them in a while.  Offend Maggie is the only Deerhoof album I don't really like so I'm glad it's not a continuation of that!  Friend Opportunity didn't quite get me going either but I certainly can't say it's a bad album. 

Good to hear Runners Four being picked out as their best, Vitalstatistix as that's definitely my favourite (and I've had to argue it's merits before).

[Vitalstatistix]

From pitchfork:

San Francisco noise-pop eccentrics Deerhoof's new album Deerhoof Vs. Evil is just around the corner (it's coming January 25 in the U.S. via Polyvinyl, with Joyful Noise handling the cassette release, while ATP will release it on January 24 in the UK), but the band already has more new music in the works, as drummer Greg Saunier tells Exclaim!

In November, Deerhoof teamed up with L.A. avant-rapper Busdriver for "I Did Crimes Behind Your Eyelids" on the Hoofdriver 7". On that track, Busdriver rhymed over the instrumental of Deerhoof's "I Did Crimes for You" from Deerhoof Vs. Evil. As Saunier tells Exclaim!, that collaboration was the first in a new series of split 7" singles, in which various collaborators will sing over the instrumental tracks from Deerhoof Vs. Evil. Saunier says they have finished a collab with Xiu Xiu, and they've got plans to rework every song on the album.

Saunier also told Exclaim! about another forthcoming collaborative project. The members of Deerhoof are teaming up with members of Konono N°1 and Kasai Allstars, two groups of Congolese street musicians whose tranced-out, electrified records have circulated worldwide thanks to the Congotronics series of releases. Deerhoof recently reworked a Kasai Allstars song to create "Travels Broaden the Mind", a track from last year's Congotronics tribute compilation Tradi-Mods Vs. Rockers. The Deerhoof/Congotronics collaboration hopes to play "some large festival shows" this summer, according to Saunier.

Deerhoof also plan to reissue many of their older, out-of-print albums on vinyl.

Intrigued to hear that Busdriver track. Fear it might be terrible.

Reckon the Congotronics stuff will be badass though.

[Vitalstatistix]

That Busdriver song: http://soundcloud.com/somekindofawesome/deerhoof-x-busdriver-i-did-crimes-behind-your-eyelids

Ehhhh, I thought he was meant to be a rapper? Sounds like a crap TV on the Radio song

[Muel 2]

That Busdriver song: http://soundcloud.com/somekindofawesome/deerhoof-x-busdriver-i-did-crimes-behind-your-eyelids

Ehhhh, I thought he was meant to be a rapper? Sounds like a crap TV on the Radio song

I agree but the b-side (not with Deerhoof) is amazing (he doesn't rap on that either).

[Vitalstatistix]

Is Super Duper Rescue Heads at all representative? I think that's pretty bad, and has ditched almost everything I ever liked about them...

It's fairly representative in that it's poppy and infectious but with strange breakdowns. It's obviously pretty divisive, as the album as a whole appears to be. Me, I love it.

God, I had that song on repeat for days. How can you not find it just so much fun!?

[Pie Pie Eater]

Because the chords are obvious, the chord sequence is obvious, it's all in 4/4, there's no outstanding drumming, and the lyrics aren't even funny!

I always thought the best thing about Deerhoof was that they used their pop sensibilities to make what was essentially really catchy prog rock (hence Milk Man is my favourite). A song like The Perfect Me is exactly the kind of pop I want them to be making. I feel like Super Duper Rescue Heads could have been written by tons of bands, where their best stuff for me is unbelieveably unique. I don't think the breakdowns are that strange, and I hate to harp on about the chords but there's not even anything interesting going on in those breakdown bits.

Then again, I pretty much loved the last two records, so I could be in the minority here.