Deerhoof

Deerhoof are one of those rare bands that have both creative nous and the dedication to render themselves above the tortuous watering-down process that often comes with an ascent to commercial success. They've been together, albeit with a number of personnel changes, since 1994, and the attention that they have accrued has steadily grown. In the past three years, they've been prolific in their production, and their sound has reached a creative plateau. Their newest release, Offend Maggie, is the same good ol' Deerhoof, maintaining the nuances that make them who they are: Angular rhythms, that ping-pong between time signatures and spastic guitar melodies that support lead singer Satomi Matsuzaki's playful vocals. It's poppy at times, unabashedly so, but it's more like pop's awkward little sister that spent her youth in the basement listening to obscure noise bands, only to shame her elder sibling by blossoming into a creative juggernaut that has already spawned a number of bands attempting to recreate her (their) sound. Man, that's quite an analogy…

That said, this is probably Deerhoof's "safest" release ever. It's less noisy than anything they have done before, but when you're as left-of-center as Deerhoof are, a little caution in songwriting isn't going to get you large-scale mainstream attention. The songs are unequivocally song-y and concise, while still maintaining Deerhoof's definitive qualities. It's a really solid record, though it lacks a couple of 10/10 stellar tracks.

The opening number, "Tears and Music of Love," is the kind of song you'd expect Deerhoof to raise the curtain with. Highly rhythmic and simple to listen to, it's a head-bobber that hides its complexities in the details. The title track is another exemplary indication of what Deerhoof actually do: take normal ideas for songs and then warp them into something else entirely. Nothing in the track is mind-blowingly progressive, but then again, nobody else is able to sound like Deerhoof. It's in their execution as much as their concept that they find their definition. "Numina O" lays out the band's ability to make a catchy song out of dissonant chords, and "Basketball Get Your Groove Back" is another of those silly little ditties in the vein of "Dog on the Sidewalk" or "Panda Panda". "Family of Others" is led by male vocals, which is a major departure for the band. They pull it off well, and it's probably the biggest curveball on the record. The tail end of Offend Maggie houses the most uncharacteristic tracks, "Fresh Born" being one of the standouts. It's rollicking and dissonant but still catchy and playful.

This record may prove to be Deerhoof's most well-received, as it's definitely their most accessible. However, it is by no means saturated to satiate the masses. Deerhoof have really figured out what it is they're trying to do—now all we have to do is wait for the world to catch up.

—Jemayel Khawaja
10.09.08

More expansive than Friend Opportunity, not quite as sprawling as The Runners Four, Offend Maggie is among Deerhoof's most balanced albums. However, that doesn't convey the sense of adventure that courses through every track. "The Tears and Music of Love" begins the album with emphatic guitars that turn mischievous and a shape-shifting melody that keeps changing right up to the song's end. Offend Maggie is one of Deerhoof's most riff-filled albums since Apple O', thanks to the addition of second guitarist Edward Rodriguez to the fold: power chords set off the flute-like purity of Satomi Matsuzaki's voice on "My Purple Past," and the acoustic strumming on "Don't Get Born" makes its brevity all the more striking. The band brings both of theses sounds together brilliantly on "Offend Maggie" itself, which moves from a briskly lilting acoustic figure that recalls a sped-up John Fahey or Ali Farka Touré to plugged-in chugging, while Matsuzaki sings about a telemarketing romance gone wrong over rollicking drums. That Deerhoof can pack so much appeal and inventiveness into two minutes shows, once again, that they don't so much "go pop" as remake pop in their own image.

Elsewhere, Offend Maggie gives equal time to the charming but not too cutesy Deerhoof with the hyper-expressive "Basket Ball Get Your Groove Back," where Matsuzaki becomes the ball as she describes how the players dance and weave on the court, and "Snoopy Waves," which buries its bubblegummy melody under drums and distortion. The more challenging Deerhoof surfaces on "Eaguru Guru," which name-checks the German prog rock band Guru Guru and nods to prog with its massive keyboards and guitars, intricate rhythms, and suite-like movements. "Fresh Born"'s towering bassline and spiraling guitars make it Deerhoof's version of funk-rock, while "This Is God Speaking"'s distorted vocals and rinky-dink electronics sound like an homage to Experimental Dental School. The introspective Deerhoof get their due on "Family of Others," where a spooky intro gives way to John Dieterich's vocal harmonies, rippling guitars, and meditations on interconnectedness, and on "Jagged Fruit"'s jazzy, moody finality. While Offend Maggie isn't as dramatic a change from what came before it as Friend Opportunity and The Runners Four were, its subtler changes and elaborations make it far from predictable -- other than that, it's another consistently interesting Deerhoof album. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide