Deerhoof Friend Opportunity
Deerhoof – Friend Opportunity
Unlike many bands with similarly prolific recording histories, Deerhoof proves with “Friend Opportunity”, its ninth album in ten years of existence, that it doesn’t necessarily take years to progress musically. “Friend Opportunity” presents Deerhoof at its best, borrowing innovative instrumentation and form from “Milk Man” and organic guitar riffs and stellar drumming improvisation from the well-received “The Runners Four.”
The album kicks off with the single “The Perfect Me,” a wonderfully danceable track that uses organ to its best advantage-namely to produce an ominous yet pleasant sound, echoed by Matsuzaki’s eerie vocals. “+81” follows, serving to further strengthen the album’s opening with a catchy hook that allows the band to proudly claim its label of “indie pop.” Particularly enjoyable is “Cast Off the Crown,” a track in which drummer Saunier displays his fittingly soft vocals.
Despite its strong opening, certain tracks on the album fall do short, such as the insufferably dramatic “Whither the Invisible Birds?” a piano ballad that, while ambitious, distracts from the overall dance-rock feel of the album. The album’s pièce de résistance, the eleven minute “Look Away,” firmly establishes Deerhoof as noise-rockers, though it verges on pure abstraction as it switches instrumentation from section to section without communicating a cohesive idea.
Given a few misses, “Friend Opportunity” on a whole is a great release that mixes experimentation with just the right level of crude rhythm to prevent it from crossing the line of complete pretension.
Grade: A- Reviewed by: Reema Ghazi
