Deerhoof is one of those bands that at first listen, you tilt your head to the side and say “huh?” The experimental rock veterans have never been ones to play it safe when it comes to their music, with spastic guitar riffs, the odd vocals of Satomi Matsuzaki, and melodies that would otherwise never be put to record. With their latest effort, Deerhoof vs. Evil, Deerhoof actually manages to make their almost psychotic brand of indie rock catchy. Think in the similar vein of the Dirty Projectors’ critically-acclaimed Bitte Orca – give a crazy band some time to chill out, and you’ve got something that a lot more people can enjoy.
Not that I’m saying I didn’t like Deerhoof before, and not that I’m saying Deerhoof fans will be displeased, quite the contrary. But I find this record much easier to listen to. In fact, I listened to it almost all day today, several times over. And not just because I had to thoroughly absorb it because of this review, but because I enjoyed it a lot.
From the twitchy and cute “Qui Dorm, Només Somia” to the guitar fuzz laden “The Merry Barracks,” Deerhoof vs. Evil remains true to the band’s bizarre song-crafting but brings in a melodic quality that they haven’t embraced as much with the past ten or so albums. Heck, “No On Asked To Dance” has a hook that sounds like classical Spanish guitar. Now there’s something you wouldn’t expect to hear from Deerhoof. Actually, you should never expect anything from Deerhoof, because you’ll most likely be wrong.
“Super Duper Rescue Heads” also has strong pop influences with adorable synthesizer and the ever-simplified lyric “Me, to the rescue! How low, how low, you lucky so-and-so?” It’s so fun that after a couple minutes I actually realize that I’m dancing around my kitchen to Deerhoof music.
One thing I particularly liked about this album is that Deerhoof didn’t rely heavily on Matsuzaki’s vocals, and took a bit more care in the harmonies between the band members’ singing parts. It made for a more dense listening experience, and it’s also part of that “more people will like this music” argument. Similar to Dirty Projectors’ Dave Longstreth, and even Joanna Newsom, Matsuzaki has a love-it-or-hate-it voice. And the more chance people get to love it, I say yes.
Further along the album, we get the eerie “Must Fight Current,” which as I said before, explores the vocal harmonies and contrast more than ever before. My personal favourite, however, and then one that I’ve listened to probably about 15 times in the last 24 hours, is “Secret Mobilization,” a track that starts out with simple jazz guitars, catchy hooks, and soft lilty “la la la la las” from Matsuzaki around the middle. But it breaks into this thrashy minor chord progression at the end of the song that catches you so off guard that it’s like an awesome right hook to the face.
Once you’ve been metaphorically smacked into submission, the rest of the album is relatively low-key compared to the earlier songs. “Hey I Can” and “C’Moon” feature some Japanese lyrics which – if I had the energy – I would go translate for you. But this gives you incentive to buy the album. Then it ends on the loveliest songs on Deerhoof vs. Evil, the sunny hand claps on “I Did Crimes For You,” and the haunting sexy synthesizer reverb on “Almost Everyone Almost Always.”
I, for one, am ecstatic to get the chance to see Deerhoof play any of these songs on their spring tour coming up, and I’d go so far to say already that Deerhoof vs. Evil will be on my best of 2011 list.
January has been a good month.
Track Listing:
1. Qui Dorm, Només Somia
2. Behold a Marvel in the Darkness
3. The Merry Barracks
4. No One Asked to Dance
5. Let’s Dance the Jet
6. Super Duper Rescue Heads !
7. Must Fight Current
8. Secret Mobilization
9. Hey I Can
10. C’Moon
11. I Did Crimes for You
12. Almost Everyone, Almost Always
