When we got the heads up from Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier it was along the lines “don’t expect a bunch of Grammy®-baiting sob stories, OK”. OK Greg, we kinda guessed that might be the case. Yet Greg’s words also speak for the Deerhoof mindset – a clear fatigue with the mainstream river of musical shit that flows far too freely around the radio stations, internet and television. And yes the new Deerhoof record is a playful rebellion; it’s also a shake and dance of various rhythmic flavours with a payload of imagination.

The title track opens with a distorted guitar stifled by an intermittent straight jacket, a random beat and of course the sweetly leftfield delivery from vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki. I can hear a few words about breaking up, but if someone’s heart is broken it has clearly been swiftly patched up with slices of wonky pop perfection.

There is a Cuban influence that randomly swings through the set, like in the final seconds of There’s That Grin for instance. Other tracks blip and trip like your game console just got a mind of its own, check Bad Kids To The Front .

Yet the standout moments include the funk-drenched backbeat that is Flower, a track that has Matsuzaki finding a hook and going with it on every refrain that passes by. We Do Parties is a stuttering rock-pop run that feels loose and excited by the band’s constant air of musical freedom. And closer Fete D’Adieu is simultaneously magical, pretty and basically a Deerhoof masterclass.

Deerhoof’s latest ably snuggles up to the long line of invention the three-piece have been creating for the last eighteen years. Who needs a Grammy® when the music clearly speaks for itself.

-Sophia Ward-

Not ones to dodge accusations of hubristic ambition, Christian Beaulieu of Triclops! and The Mars Volta’s Cedric Bixler-Zavala have joined forces to create an album of acoustic, raga-inspired psychedelia. With the addition of Mike Watt on bass and vocalist Rachel Fannan they are Anywhere, and there’s something very odd and very very good about their debut.



If the title of opener Pyramid Mirrors puts you in mind of Battles you wouldn’t be far wrong. It’s a layered instrumental of acoustic polyrhythms and while not representative of the rest of the album it’s a striking start. But it’s from second track Rosa Rugosa that things start to come together. Twangy western guitars, doomy bass, touches of glockenspiel and simple, stuttery drums underpin Fannan’s beautiful layers of harmonies in a way that’s a lot more coherent and convincing than you’d expect from an experimental collaboration. Dead Golden West, another track featuring Fannan’s vocals, is similarly ethereal and affecting, pushing into Gregorian chant territory in places.



For those that still crack out At The Drive-In for a noise hit, Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s contribution is cause for excitement, and with the title track Anywhere seem to have created the first credible acoustic post-hardcore song. The drums and guitars have a syncopated pulse that’s familiar from ATD-I and The Mars Volta, and while the vocals are fairly restrained and melodic they fit the music in a way that could have fallen flat in less talented hands. As with all seven tracks here, it’s a lengthy-ish workout rather than a snappy punk song, but is focused and never self-indulgent.



So where would this album sit in your record collection? It’s hard to say. It’s not a retro effort but it also doesn’t sound particularly contemporary. Calling it competent wouldn’t be dismissive; they’ve set out to explore acoustic music with the twin influences of open tuned raga and dusty bordertown Americana and made something intriguing and beautiful.

-Toby Dore-

Tall Firs previous record, 2009’s Too Old to Die Young, was effortlessly scuffed and awkward – the J Mascis-like whine; the flirtations with alt-rock via a percussive spread and scuzzy guitar sounds. And while it may not have set the world alight, it certainly had something.

Whatever that something was the New York duo have opted not to put it down this time round. Instead they’ve decided to work on fine-tuning and polishing their semi-folk guitar riffs, half-heartedly attempting to throw a melody into the mix while they’re at it.

If you haven’t already fallen by the wayside – or become comatose – then I Couldn’t See It In Your Face is the tipping point. Slide guitars and softly softly plucked strings breathe in and out as the vocals follow. It’s like being rocked to sleep by a particularly dull babysitter.

There is nothing here that even comes close to engaging the listener – believe me, I’ve given it a good go. Yeah they’ve worked on some nicely entwined guitar-play – Axeman is testament to that. In fact, if they release an instrumental version it might make for a nice soundtrack to my Sunday morning.

Whole Thing is Over is probably the finest moment – finally the sparse downer we’ve been on makes a little sense. The tapping rhythm is effective and the whispered harmonies finally find a suitable tune in which to deliver their words. We even get the scuzzy guitars back!

Tall Firs have made a record that will fade into the background long before it plays out – the final track’s title is probably the best way to finish up: Loss for Words.

-William Bell-

Surely when you get to album number eleven the ideas are wearing thin, the passion is waning and the whole writing a new album thing is just a chore? Not if you are part of the wonky, inventive and tireless group we know as Deerhoof.

In fact Bowlegs is happy to proclaim ‘Deerhoof Vs Evil’ as one of our favourite records the band has created … period. The shapes don’t fit the holes in the world of Deerhoof; we just can’t squeeze any of these songs in our pigeon holes. They keep turning our heads in all sorts of strange directions. Hear singer Satomi Matsuzaki coming to the rescue on ‘Super Duper Rescue Heads’, her voice as much an instrument as the chameleon guitars. The band beat joyfully, for a minute at least, the change of course soon becomes a mass of bends and crashes.

‘Secret Mobilization’ kicks into overdrive, rock style – yet changes appearance with the intro of Matsukzaki’s repeating vocal line, the fuzzy organ and gear- jammed rhythm. Opening an album with a track sung in Catalan, ‘Qui Dorm, Només Somia’ – while playing with stumbling guitars and a prog rock opening – is a band more than comfortable in their inventive skins. The group did in fact leave their San Francisco safety zone to record the album, self-engineering, producing and mixing a set that somehow manages to stay on a melodic track while being completely off-track.

The crazed veterans rein in the mayhem at the right time, juggling a selection of sweet and soft vocals, acoustic passages, guitars that refuse to sit still and a hatful of tempos. Album eleven? This could be album one hundred and eleven – Deerhoof are not keeping count and nor are we. WB