Remember being a teenager? No one could tell you what to do. You refused to clean your room while screaming Rage Against the Machine lyrics as loudly as you possibly could. This is the sound of Deerhoof’s new album.
From the child-adorned cover to the free candy included in the press release (omg thanks!), Deerhoof vs. Evil bursts forth with typical angst-y energy and a sense of freedom and potential only the young can provide. Opening with the enjoyable if slightly meandering “Qui Dorm, Només Somia”, things really hit their stride with “Behold a Marvel in the Darkness”. Matching its inquisitive title, the track’s duel guitars probe through space as vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki asks the extremely adolescent question, “what is this thing called love?”. Experimentation has always been the norm for Deerhoof and it is no different here. Switching instruments, arrangements and styles with ease, the unfamiliar manner in which Deerhoof deliver their sugar-coated hooks binds the album together. However, as one would expect on their eleventh studio album Deerhoof begin to sound a bit too much like previous efforts, slowly losing impact across the course of the record. While still joyous, Deerhoof vs. Evil is decidedly not pertinent listening.
3/5
Deerhoof – Deerhoof vs. Evil
