There's a symphonic conception at work here, entire worlds within chords, genius hooks that may or may not swing by again, a programmatic, narrative flow that takes us from one place and drops us off in another, like an exhilarating abduction. Just as importantly, you can hear how the band took a little something from each of the bands they'd toured with - Radiohead, The Roots, and Wilco - though they don't sound like any of them. "Friend Opportunity" is a feat of reinvention that could only come from artists willing to rethink everything.
Review by Heather Phares
After the brilliant sprawl of The Runners Four, it would've made sense if Deerhoof continued in the same direction on their next album. It turns out that Friend Opportunity is a model of efficiency, packing just as much dazzling creativity into ten tracks as The Runners Four did into 20. This new approach could be seen as a reaction to the departure of Chris Cohen, who left to concentrate on his own band, the Curtains, but Deerhoof is such a mercurial group that some kind of change was inevitable. And, as good as The Runners Four was, Friend Opportunity just might be even better. It's as though the band took the ideas they tossed around last time -- more streamlined, structured songs combined with a wider sonic palette -- and threw in more highly concentrated sweetness and weirdness for good measure. Though most of these songs are short, they've got a lot of presence, and Friend Opportunity opens with three of Deerhoof's most adorable, accessible songs yet. "The Perfect Me" kicks off the album with galloping percussion and organs that sound like rays of sun bursting through clouds, two of Friend Opportunity's main musical motifs. "+81" is the single, which makes sense, since its collision of acrobatic guitars, subtle electronics, marching band snippets, and irresistible "choo-choo-choo-choo beep beep" chorus distills the album's kitchen-sink pop perfectly. "Believe ESP" is a surprisingly funky departure, with a slinky melody that lilts, slithers, and takes detours into chamber pop and noisy breakdowns, yet still sounds purposeful. Later on, this ultra-pop side of Deerhoof resurfaces with "Matchbook Seeks Maniac," which easily ranks as one of the band's best songs yet. It's also one of their most straightforward songs, with a soaring melody that leads into a bittersweet yet rousing chorus, but lyrics like "I would sell my soul to the devil/If I could be on top of the world" keep things nicely unpredictable. The other facets of Deerhoof's sound sparkle on Friend Opportunity, too: they explore their softer side with "Whither the Invisible Birds?," a symphonic ballad sweet and yearning enough for a cartoon heroine, and "Choco Fight," which is surprisingly pretty and mellow, given its title. Things get more experimental as Friend Opportunity ends: "Kidz Are So Small" is a startling track, even by Deerhoof's standards, with Satomi Matsuzaki singing from the perspective of a dog and a man over tumbling beats and rubbery synths (based on this song and Milk Man's "Dog on the Sidewalk," man's best friend inspires some of the band's most out-there songs). "Look Away," an 11-minute suite-like piece, balances the rest of Friend Opportunity's poppiness with loping guitar riffs, rambling pianos, and keyboards that sound like feedback. Deerhoof is in an undeniable groove -- with each album, they make their flights of fancy seem easier, and push pop's boundaries farther. Friend Opportunity is the perfect name for their approach: they look for, and find, the best possibilities in whatever comes their way.
Deerhoof
Friend Opportunity
[Kill Rock Stars; 2007]
Rating: 8.9
There's a high you get from the classic 1970s "art-rock" of Yes, Genesis, or King Crimson-- and when it hits, there's nothing like it. I'm not talking about the way other music peaks, like a dance track where the beat kicks in and the crowd goes berzerk, or metal music that gets louder and louder until your skull caves, or gutbucket singers who can make your heart jump out of your chest. With art-rock, there's a lot of mumbo-jumbo and funny time signatures, and sometimes there's like 10 or 15 minutes of really boring shit (see: Yes, "Awaken"). But when the "good part" hits? Holy shit-- the band crescendos and the singer, smooth as silk but loud as God, rams Buddha down the throat of a giant silver dragon. If I sound like I'm growing a mullet, I've done my job.
Deerhoof, an indie band who have released plenty of discombobulated pop and no wave albums, have lately turned toward accessible, foot-stomping rock. It worked on The Runners Four, but it works better and quicker on their new album, Friend Opportunity. We've been using the term "inde prog" mostly to describe bands that quick-cut between ideas and construct mini-suites out of mini-songs. But on this record Deerhoof take everything that clique of indie bands has worked toward-- add the suddenly popular twee vocals-- and ride it like an h-bomb.
If it weren't for Satomi Matsuzaki's little-girl voice, this music would be demagoguery: concussive beats, stabbing horn fills, pounding drums, a guitar chord that lands like a 10-ton weight on a 20-ton trampoline. I've never been more aware of the attack of an electric piano. And while a new love of knob-twiddling and loop-peddling brings more tonal colors, they're here for percussion, not atmosphere.
I didn't even want to make out all the words, in case I'd screw up the Obi Wan-spanks-Zelda Hero's Journey I had in my head in tracks one through nine. Snatches of story-like lyrics-- the stage-setting of "The Perfect Me", the flashes of conflict, warnings that "It's a trap"-- imply a narrative arc, with a detour for a new character on "Cast Off Crown", drummer Greg Saunier's sole vocal performance and a mini-epic that crams introduction, exposition, and resolution into three minutes.
The rest of the vocals are held down again by the high, heavily-accented singing of Matsuzaki. And the more song-like Deerhoof's music gets, the more obviously she becomes a barrier to new fans. The bleep-bloop speak-singing of "Kidz are So Small" seems to be the dealbreaker-- like you shouldn't take anything so sweet and cute seriously. (Listen to that gristly bleep in the background: that's a fucking droid, dude.) But wait 'til you hear the climactic "Matchbook Seeks Maniac": Jesus, Matsuzaki is the homecoming queen from Saturn, complete with silver glitter makeup and hip-side death ray. She rides the album's peak in the main chorus-- "I would sell my soul to the devil/ If I could be the top of the world"-- and when she belts the title phrase? It makes me quail.
Only thing is, after that 24-minute binge we get the 12-minute hangover of "Look Away". Like a rambling, shapeless homage to Yes' "Sound Chaser", it's listenable and it has a great instrumental traffic jam at the midpoint, but on this record it's just an appendix. All of a sudden the band is back to silences and blank stares, sustained tones and reverbed guitars. They're "deconstructing pop," which means they're asking questions. But on Friend Opportunity, Deerhoof work best when they blast right to the answers.
-Chris Dahlen, January 23, 2007
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