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Deerhoof Friend Opportunity Released in 2007 9.4/10 Styles Pop Experimental Pop/Rock Noise Rock Song Highlights +81 Believe E.S.P Kidz Are So Small |
In 2005, Deerhoof recorded not only the best album of their career, but also the best album of the year - the utterly brilliant The Runners Four. The album saw them continuing their movement, which began noticeably with Apple O', into creating more accessible, even danceable songs. Friend Opportunity isn't quite the masterpiece that The Runners Four was, but it's close. It's also another step even further into accessible territory. If The Runners Four sounded like a group of ecclectic, bizarro musicians trying to make a mainstream pop album and falling spectacularly wide of the mark, Friend Opportunity represents them getting close enough to demand a great deal of attention. The songs here are more well-rounded, with tighter structure and cleaner production, than anything the band has created before. In doing this, they've managed to take a significant leap forward in refining their unique sound, while not sacrificing any of their totally loveable weirdness. To start with, the opening trifecta of songs here are by far their catchiest ever, and probably the closest Deerhoof could possibly get to writing anything you could call "radio-friendly". The album kicks off with "The Perfect Me", which sways between Satomi Matsuzaki's cute, lively vocals and the manic beats-and-riffs combo of John Dieterich and Greg Saunier, with some bursts of organ thrown in for good measure. Things get even catchier with "+81", which opens with a brass fanfare (quite possibly a first for the 'hoof), while the song's chorus is utterly sublime, featuring a real foot-tapper of a melody, flowing along underneath Satomi's irresistable chants of "Choo choo-choo-choo beep beep!" The trio ends with "Believe E.S.P", which is not only the album's coolest, funkiest song, but also contains arguably the hugest, most unforgettable bass riff they've ever come up with. That one's a serious contender for song of the year honours. Thankfully, Deerhoof haven't lost any of their trademark kookiness in all this poppy sensibility, and Friend Opportunity still has quirks and oddities in generous supply. "The Galaxist" opens with a beautiful, fragile vocal, which rests upon some delicate, minimal instrumentation, only to launch into some spine-chilling bursts of slightly-off-the-beat guitar and drums that propel the song to incredible heights. "Choco Fight" opens with a stuttering, single-note synth line, which is eventually matched with an accompanying, bubbly guitar riff, which both sound incredibly unusual, yet somehow undeniably infectious. "Kidz Are So Small" is probably the most delightfully weird of all, as Satomi psuedo-raps "If I were a man, and you a dog / I'd throw a stick for you" over an electronic beat and stop-start samples of an orchestral crescendo. And of course there's that riff I mentioned on "Believe E.S.P" - did I mention that, while being 4-4 time, it loops after only 3 bars? One of the most pleasing thing about Friend Opportunity, though, it that all this compelling strangeness been so smoothly amalgamated into the otherwise "straightforward" (for Deerhoof, at least) songs. Late in the album, the listener is treated to a real pop-music gem. "Matchbook Seeks Maniac" is easily the most straightforward, instantly loveable song Deerhoof have ever recorded. The instrumentation is lush and dense, to the point of moving into shoegazer territory, and Satomi's vocal is soft and inviting. Meanwhile, the soaring guitars and uplifting vocal of the track's chorus are a major highlight, and they juxtapose interestingly again the somewhat-dark lyric of "I would sell my soul to the devil / If I could be on top of the world". The band even made the wise decision to leave most of their crazed noise-experimentation (which your more long-time listeners should remember well from albums like Reiveille and The Man, The King, The Girl) until the end of the album. Final track "Look Away" is an eleven minute, multi-part, multi-instrumental, psych rock jam session, with a three minute ditty liberally dispersed throughout it. Had it fallen anywhere else on the album, it'd have served mostly as a flow-distrupting wedge. Situated where it is, it acts as a perfectly suitable closer, and something of a palate cleanser to boot. Deerhoof have already become one of my absolute favourite bands, and with this latest album that adoration has only grown. It's truly awe-inspiring to listen to a group with such a powerful grasp on pop songwriting combined with such an overwhelming desire to be willfully unusual and keep on pushing the envelope over and over. All three members play a truly vital role in the group's success - Satomi's feather-light vocals are always full of glorious attitude and humour, while her bass gives many of the group's songs their strong, underlying foundation; Dieterich's complex, rapid-fire guitar always make for tunes that are full of fascinatingly idiosyncratic melodies and interludes; and Saunier's totally unconventional, stripped-back drumming (the man has a kit containing nothing but a kick, a snare and a crash) sees him not merely setting a standard beat, but somehow drumming complementarily around that beat to create an exciting style that's seemingly improvisational and yet so sturdy and reliable. Most amazingly of all, there is always a feeling of total cohesion between them, despite their seemingly disparate styles of play. Friend Opportunity is yet another notch in their belt - an exceptional piece of otherworldly pop music that's an absolute delight from beginning to end. Consider it essential listening. |