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View attachment 7762
By JONATHAN RINGEN(Rollingstone):
Rate 4/5
Begun as an art-rock duo more than a decade ago, Deerhoof have shifted in the course of eight albums toward exuberant riff-fueled pop. Most of Friend Opportunity, which the San Francisco three-piece wrote while on the road with Radiohead, sounds like a pure expression of musical joy. Over kitchen-sink instrumentation -- fuzzed-out guitars, organ, spooky synths -- Japanese vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki sings lovely, impressionistic lyrics in a childlike voice. Drummer Greg Saunier plays with an intuitive mastery that recalls Keith Moon, and guitarist John Dieterich shows off a Ric Ocasek-like facility for concocting perfectly awesome hooks.
A typical Deerhoof song has several distinct sections, and the shifts between them make for giddy, surprising listening. On "The Galaxist," folky acoustic strumming and muted horns suddenly collide with a monster Melvins-ish riff; "Matchbook Seeks Maniac" switches from a Phil Spector groove to a blast of indie-rock euphoria that the Flaming Lips would have a hard time matching. The former noise rockers can't help themselves on "Look Away," and they go back to their roots with a dissonant near-twelve-minute jam. But even here the pop sensibility prevails -- they wisely leave it for the end.
Amazon Editorial Review:
If you've heard Deerhoof's noisier forays, the screaming of Satomi Matsuzaki mixed with their lo-fi-gone-mad sonic sense, then Friend Opportunity is going to sound like radio-ready pop. Rest easy, though: the album's mélange of melody and big riffs doesn't give up much ground. Greg Saunier's drums do jump out, sounding studio-painted in their crispness and deep kick-drum thunderclaps to open the album. And is that a touch of Tony Iommi for a few seconds on "The Galaxist"? Matsuzaki still finds her way to float spaceward, with orchestral washes and synth underscores along for the ride, on "Whither the Invisible Birds?" Then there's more drums, more guitar, all of it pitch-perfectly rendered. It's still fractured, but you won't even cut yourself on the edges while dancing techno to the stripped, jerky beat of "Kidz Are So Small." --Andrew Bartlett
Track list:
* The Perfect Me
* + 81
* Believe E.S.P.
* The Galaxist
* Choco Flight
* Whither The Invisible Birds?
* Cast Off Crown
* Kidz Are So Small
* Matchbook Seeks Maniac
* Look Away
By JONATHAN RINGEN(Rollingstone):
Rate 4/5
Begun as an art-rock duo more than a decade ago, Deerhoof have shifted in the course of eight albums toward exuberant riff-fueled pop. Most of Friend Opportunity, which the San Francisco three-piece wrote while on the road with Radiohead, sounds like a pure expression of musical joy. Over kitchen-sink instrumentation -- fuzzed-out guitars, organ, spooky synths -- Japanese vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki sings lovely, impressionistic lyrics in a childlike voice. Drummer Greg Saunier plays with an intuitive mastery that recalls Keith Moon, and guitarist John Dieterich shows off a Ric Ocasek-like facility for concocting perfectly awesome hooks.
A typical Deerhoof song has several distinct sections, and the shifts between them make for giddy, surprising listening. On "The Galaxist," folky acoustic strumming and muted horns suddenly collide with a monster Melvins-ish riff; "Matchbook Seeks Maniac" switches from a Phil Spector groove to a blast of indie-rock euphoria that the Flaming Lips would have a hard time matching. The former noise rockers can't help themselves on "Look Away," and they go back to their roots with a dissonant near-twelve-minute jam. But even here the pop sensibility prevails -- they wisely leave it for the end.
Amazon Editorial Review:
If you've heard Deerhoof's noisier forays, the screaming of Satomi Matsuzaki mixed with their lo-fi-gone-mad sonic sense, then Friend Opportunity is going to sound like radio-ready pop. Rest easy, though: the album's mélange of melody and big riffs doesn't give up much ground. Greg Saunier's drums do jump out, sounding studio-painted in their crispness and deep kick-drum thunderclaps to open the album. And is that a touch of Tony Iommi for a few seconds on "The Galaxist"? Matsuzaki still finds her way to float spaceward, with orchestral washes and synth underscores along for the ride, on "Whither the Invisible Birds?" Then there's more drums, more guitar, all of it pitch-perfectly rendered. It's still fractured, but you won't even cut yourself on the edges while dancing techno to the stripped, jerky beat of "Kidz Are So Small." --Andrew Bartlett
Track list:
* The Perfect Me
* + 81
* Believe E.S.P.
* The Galaxist
* Choco Flight
* Whither The Invisible Birds?
* Cast Off Crown
* Kidz Are So Small
* Matchbook Seeks Maniac
* Look Away