Deerhoof + Milk Maid || Club Academy, MCR || 03.05.11
Thursday, May 5th, 2011, 9:00 am
It is hard to believe that Deerhoof are in their 17th year as a band. Still vibrant and relatively mainstream free, Deerhoof’s music has always managed to stay well clear of comparisons. However from reading any music review it is clear that the format dictates you must use over-indulgent metaphors to give those unaware readers an embroiled sense of knowledge. Thus if you have never heard Deerhoof, and are shallow enough to allow me to pigeonhole a band that is emblematic of an act that cannot be defined as generic, I would say…Think the Pixies, Bjork, Husker Du and Nirvana, playing the soundtrack to a nightmarish fairytale in a free-form Jazz Club…
Ok with that tepid allegory out of the way, I shall begin.
One of only two UK dates, Deerhoof were in town peddling their discordant wares at a busy Club Academy.
Supported by Milk Maid, the band played a 60 minute set; jam packed with songs from across their critically acclaimed back catalogue.
The radio friendly ‘Dummy Discards a Heart’ came early into the night, and saw bass playing vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki morph into a star-jumping elf, much to the delight of the mesmerized crowd.
Songs from 2010′s Apple O’ featured heavily throughout, with Panda Panda Panda and My Diamond Car, illustrating the adaptability of both guitarists. Swaying from noodling post-punk, to grunge-worthy thrash in the blink of an eye, the skills of John Dieterich and the permanently smiling Ed Rodriguez make the live Deerhoof a far more pleasing and loud experience.
The bombastic nature of Deerhoof in person is only increased tenfold by the astonishing drumming of founding member Greg Saunier. No more evident than in the flailing power he evokes on ‘Milk Man’, he is quite literally the driving force of the band.
Stopping occasionally to speak to the crowd, Saunier I dare say is usually enigmatic and philosophical; before one song he turned to the audience and posed the question, ‘Who Speaks Only Dreams?’
However a rambling ‘high intensity’ thank you to a bewildered audience became a painfully drawn out affair. Lacking any conviction and full of pretentious art-school cool, the moment is as excruciating as it is long.
Nonetheless it is the music that matters, and new single ‘The Merry Barracks’, from latest album, Deerhoof Vs Evil (2011), is a brilliant piece of indie-pop.
Lined up across the stage, each member or Hoofian as I shall call them, owns his or her own space. You find yourself captivated, only for a wild gesture to take your attention away to another erratic performance. Deerhoof are a band of individuals, each appears to play in their own musical bubble, and if you look at each member they could almost be playing devoid of one another
Subsequently the music that emanates is a psychedelic mixture which on paper sounds inaccessible, but in truth is compelling and sometimes brilliant.
Unfortunately they are not to everybody’s liking, I hear one girl muse “that would have been brilliant for a 4 quid gig.”
Deerhoof have always, and suffice to say will probably continue to divide opinion, there appears to be no happy medium – I am hasten to use the obvious Marmite simile.
Nevertheless an hour of cacophonous post-rock-thrash on a Tuesday night is still enjoyable enough not to be sniffed at, and even though they are quickly approaching two decades together Deerhoof don’t appear to be slowing down.
For more Deerhoof, tickle this!
WORDS by Adam Yare
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