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February 01, 2007
Will you be my friend?
Today (no, not yesterday), it can be damaging for a band to have an early-of-the-year release leaked towards the end of the previous year. Bloggers, seemingly gaining more influence by the day, might ignore it entirely: barring it from the previous year's "best of" lists because it wasn't officially released that year; ignoring it during the new year because it feels too old to them.
Much like the scenario in the previous paragraph, Deerhoof officially debuted on January 23. I've had the album for some time before. Consider this my appeal to not forget thy brave soldiers.
First of all, I am delighted to report that Deerhoof has put a grown-up sheen to its storied history of precociousness. The band, fond of frenetic song structures and childlike bursts of shouts, has matured with Friend Opportunity, but don’t infer the members have mellowed or changed.
No one who has listened to the radio in the past, say, forever can call the Bay Area-based band's latest offering a mainstream appeal. The safest declaration is that the band ducked, for a second, into a mainstream convenience store while being chased by bad cops, only to exit as soon as their pursuers rounded the bend.
The only thing mainstream-like about the band is guitarist John Dieterich’s fondness for Neo-rock-o-lithic hooks; in short doses, cribbing (what appears to be) from bands as varied as Van Halen to Helmet.
So... mainstream? Hell no. But I can say with some degree of certitude that this effort feels more studied; more calculated.
People have seemed to love +81, which is typical Deerhoof, combining the old-as-Chuck-Berry guitar shred with the sharp, ascendant voice of Satomi Matsuzaki.
// +81 - MySpace.com
But we're not here to talk about what everyone is talking about.
Let's get to my current favorite track:
Deerhoof - The Galaxist
A brief flirtation with traditional-ish song structures does the band good. Especially in this offering. It starts like a slow White Album track (if Paul McCartney was a Japanese lady): a ponderous opening, with slight guitar.
Out of nowhere (though that’s kind of an inside joke when you're listening to Deerhoof), we get a sharp slice of Shining-style discord, then some Foxy Lady-ish guitar build-up. And you're led to believe that, upcoming, will be 42 chord changes. And you're not far off. So it's not the song for adherents to symmetry.
But, for Deerhoof fans, there must be an appreciation for the sweetness displayed in Santomi's voice, a rarity indeed. She becomes more demur than kinetic. And it's been worth the wait.
// Friend Opportunity buy
Posted by Keith O'Brien at February 1, 2007 10:12 AM
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