 |
By Luke Pimentel
2008.03
Drum heads were pulverized while guitars screeched out eerie, minimal melodies that sometimes seemed not to fit together. A petite Japanese woman with a tambourine on her head was singing about swans, while a guy in the audience below danced and wielded an open umbrella like a deranged Gene Kelly. And everywhere people were lounging on couches or perched atop skate ramps, chanting “Hoof! Hoof! Hoof!” at the top of their lungs.
Sounds like something out of a David Lynch movie, doesn’t it?
(LINK HERE: To view this link you must Register. If you're already a member, Login Here!)
(Satomi Matsuzaki, Photo Credit: Luke Pimentel)
It all really happened though, I swear. It was the scene when the weird, wonderful entity known as Deerhoof descended upon Petaluma’s Phoenix Theatre on February 23rd for a first-rate clinic in abstract, arty pop noise.
Based out of San Francisco, Deerhoof will likely never be tagged to go much further than their current standing as critically-revered purveyors of avant-noodle. For that they should be blessed, since there’s little else in any genre of music that sounds like them; try to crutch on comparisons, and they always ring false. Snatches of other bands come to mind here and there; they certainly share kinship with alt pioneers like Sonic Youth, and with the stop/start math rock of bands like Shellac. Sometimes, too, their jams share telepathy with the work of Larry LaLonde and Les Claypool from another beloved Bay Area band (and erstwhile Phoenix Theatre legend), Primus.
But Deerhoof’s tone – their lurching hooks, their jagged cut-and-paste arrangements, their impressionistic, sometimes phonetic lyrics – is entirely their own. They are just pop enough to get heads bobbing, and just experimental enough to keep the brains inside those heads from ever knowing quite where things are headed. Tonal shifts – from sweet to lacerating, charming to fierce – can happen in a matter of seconds. Then there are Satomi Matsuzaki’s lead vocals, the playful innocence of which float just above Greg Saunier’s spastic drums like a bunny rabbit bounding through a field of jackhammers.
It shouldn’t work at all, but somehow, the polarity between the vocals and the music is exactly what makes them both dovetail beautifully. And unlike most bands that plateau early, then spend the rest of their careers trying in vain to re-discover the sound that made them great, Deerhoof’s evolution has been constant and positive. Their unconventional approach has matured slowly over their past few albums to the point where 2007’s Friend Opportunity – arguably their most accessible record yet – was heralded my many as one of the best of the year.
Saturday’s show marked another evolution in the band’s journey: the debut of its latest member.
“We have a new guitarist!” Matsuzaki chirped happily at the beginning of the set before introducing Ed Rodriguez, formerly of XBXRX, and – based on his playing – an heir apparent to the throne of Joey Santiago. His addition to the lineup marked the band’s first appearance as a four-piece since the amicable departure of Chris Cohen in 2006.
(Ed Rodriguez, Photo Credit: Luke Pimentel)
Rodriguez wasted no time establishing himself as a formidable anchor. Standing front and center, he traded confident bouts of grind and squeal with longtime Deerhoof guitarist John Dieterich, while simultaneously battling with Saunier for supremacy in the game of metal mook hair-thrashing. Matzusaki occasionally broke from her shy, almost Zen-like stillness at the mic with bouts of madcap hopping across the stage, all the while thumping riffs off a bass guitar roughly the equivalent of her own body size.
For the uninitiated, Deerhoof’s live performance can seem random, even sloppy. In truth, though, the band members are incredibly deliberate and fastidious about the way they make music. For his part, Saunier buzzed around on and off the stage all night Saturday, fiddling with knobs, tinkering with instruments, and constantly adjusting his snares throughout the performance. It’s a bit like watching an elaborate mural being constructed entirely out of scribbles and doodles.
(Ed Rodriguez and Greg Saunier, Photo Credit: Luke Pimentel)
Lucky for them, the crowd that came to watch had little trouble seeing the forest for the trees; they were warm, enthusiastic and respectful, doing much to help keep the energy up and the mood eclectic.
The band’s surprisingly aggressive set traded equally between a handful of their most recent albums, staying tight and urgent from show opener “The Big Orange Sun Run Over Speed Light” (from 2004’s Milk Man) on through to the wonderful drone and buildup of “This Magnificent Bird Will Rise Again” (2002’s Reveille). Though the whole band sounded fresh and revitalized, it was Rodriguez who carried the night; he was so “on” that after awhile, it hardly seemed like the audience was watching a debut gig. Saunier – the band’s lone founding member – seemed pleased with the result, and could often be seen flashing grins between rapid-fire bursts from his kit.
As far as initiations go, both band and venue could’ve done far worse.
Following a series of European dates at Owen Pallet’s Maximum Black Festival, Deerhoof marches on to another solo date at the Phoenix Theatre – in Toronto, Canada, that is – on March 5th.
For tour dates and information, please visit the band’s official website at (LINK HERE: To view this link you must Register. If you're already a member, Login Here!)
|
|
Published on
03-01-2008 at 02:51 PM |
|
|
|
| |
