Deerhoof - Vs Evil (ATP)
4/5
By: Stephen Maughan
Two years on from the well-received Offend Maggie, Deerhoof are back with another compelling, confusing, and characteristically off-beat mixture of gentle lullabies mixed with electric and artistic melodies.
Deerhoof Vs Evil combines the eccentricity you find on a Brian Eno album with a feel good Japanese pop undercurrent. Add some quite snazzy and sophisticate guitar playing, disoriented harps, and Greg Saunie's hectic drumming, which has never sounded better, and you've got one of the finest Deerhoof releases in years.
Self produced and recorded, it's a clever album which won't make immediate sense for the first few listens. But that’s because there's a lot going on here. Thankfully, it's not ideas and beats - the music itself is given lots of room to breathe. Stick with it, and it won't be long before you’ll find yourself, if not quite whistling the abstract tunes, at least stomping your feet in appreciation.
Lyrics here feel part of the music, often repeating a simple phrase (“I'm just a dream”) until it feels part of the music itself. Deerhoof aren't content to leave it at that, for they love to throw in a turn of phrase seemingly out of context to get your attention – In ‘The Merry Barracks’ Greg Saunier sings “Hello, atom bombs are going to explode” with such a crisp urgent voice that for a moment your heart stops beating until the whole track ends. Is this the end of the world?
Thankfully not, for the next song has a compelling futuristic Spanish flamingo feel (don't ask). ‘No One Asked To Dance’, which kicks in with the super-sweet voice of Satomi Matsuzaki gently soothing your nerves, leads on to ‘Let's Dance The Jet’, a fast, abstract piece with a killer hook.
Each track here contradicts the last, and yet somehow it works wonders, maintaining a feel of freshness and excitement. For a band on its eleventh album, that’s no mean feat.
Deerhoof - The Merry Barracks by All Tomorrows Parties
Artists in this article: Deerhoof
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