A little after new years a friend and I were sitting around and discussing musical stuff at a get together. The conversation was focusing around the more interesting albums of the year, and I mentioned how I'd just gotten Deerhoof's latest and hadn't really listened to much of it yet. I remember saying something about the vocals being extremely irritating.My friend replied with something flippant like,
"Whatever, Bjork lover" and me saying something like
"you like Deerhoof, but not Stereolab. Hmm"
Or something. I was drunk, and It's only passingly important.
Anyway this friend, who is kind enough to read this crap and occasionally reply to it, wrote me about my last post on Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and how nerve grating the vocals are. I agree completely. Of course, frequent exposures to nails on chalkboards have dulled the senses a bit so perhaps that explains the lack of hatred on my part.
BUT, Deerhoof definitely takes the fucking cake here.
I know I commented on avant garde albums and how I find them scary and interesting. But really, this is too much. Having sat through Reveille and Runners Four I feel I can honestly say that Satan fucking a Chihuahua in the ass with a red hot jackhammer would probably sound better to me. I just sat through No one fed me so I stayed off reveille and I want to punch my roommate in the face. And I honestly like my roommate.
I've tried to understand what it is about this band that makes everyone keep telling me their good, but I find it utterly incomprehensible why anyone would subject themselves to this kind of torture. Maybe if I light me nipples on fire.
Even if the vocals aren't getting in the way, the music itself is so badly written that a retarded elephant could come up with more structure than almost any one of the songs on either album I have. And I only listened to two! Who is buying this shit?
Now that I've vented my spleen I'll take an objective step back. Experiments in song structure are good. Even necessary. Sonic Youth. A perfect example of a band breaking boundaries in music but only meeting with few and far between successes. I've never met anyone who has ever been able to produce a sonic youth album from their collection, but everyone SWEARS their awesome. Why? Because their fucking with the formula. Deerhoofs kind of the same. I think. Is it art? Yeah technically. Is it different? Yes and no. Usually this type of proto pop/blues has got some sort of angry snarling vocals over it instead of tweety bird noises smeared over the top. Is it good?
Only in the sense that a kick in the nuts is good to remind you why we try to avoid that sort of thing at all costs.
Aural landscapes are something that I love in music. Anything labeled "atmospheric" is probably something I'll like. I should like Deerhoof. I don't. Sorry fans. Your really deluding yourselves on this one. Only one man I know would dig this shit. And his name is Ben Adams. 25 minute Japanese Death Metal solos warped his mind to the point he MIGHT like Deerhoof. What's the rest of you people's excuse?
Final analysis: Deerhoof fools you into thinking there is something challenging here, until you get past the initial shock and realize that there is only hipster analog music with lots of useless connections, inane song structure lacking any complexity and some of the most irritating vocal frequencies ever recorded by man or woman. I huge amount of effort went into making this dogshit. It's a waste of your time and mine, and I'm not wasting anymore time on the subject.
Fuck Deerhoof.
If you want links to MP3's plug stick you head in the tub and throw a dryer in with you. It's the same thing.
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