Deerhoof's new album "Friend Opportunity" was released by Kill Rock Stars on Jan. 23.
At a time when most of the music we hear is nothing but overdone, formulaic songwriting created with the intent to exploit and maximize profit, it is comforting to know that there are still some bands out there that, for lack of a better term, "do it for the music." Deerhoof is one of those bands. For those who celebrate creativity and innovation, out-of-the-box song-writing and music as a pure art form, the San Francisco-based Deerhoof is sure to be a favorite.
Although they've lost member Chris Cohen since their last official album, The Runner's Four (Cohen decided to work on his other group The Curtains full time), the threesome have combined their stylistic and artful talents to create their best work to date, Friend Opportunity. The album, which is best enjoyed by listening through in its entirety, has its upbeat indie pop moments, but is then followed by dronish songs with complementing vocals by Satomi Matsuzaki. Overall, fans old and new alike are sure to enjoy Friend Opportunity, if for nothing else, in the utter complexities of unconventional song structure and aesthetical musicality.
Rating: 4/5 stars
This article was written by Matthew Reynolds, writer and CD reviewer for the Belmont Vision and freelance writer for The Tennessean. See his personal blog here for more music reviews.
