[The first in an occasional series of articles about artists who have made great records but failed to break through to the mainstream.]
Deerhoof
Deerhoof has maintained an ethical collaborative hard-working DIY attitude towards writing, recording and touring, which has largely kept them out of the public eye, but, with a string of excellent experimental rock albums under their collective belt, they have amassed a strong cult following over their thirty years of existence.
They formed in the mid-nineties in San Francisco, USA, as an improv noise duo of Rob Fisk (guitar) and Greg Saunier (drums). After a year, Satomi Matsuzaki (vocals and bass) joined them, a week after arriving from Japan, with no prior musical experience. Their early work is harsh and under-produced, and bears little resemblance to the melodic and sometimes-complex style they developed later.
They recorded three lo-fi albums in the late nineties: The Man, the King, the Girl, Holdypaws and Halfbird, adding Kelly Goode (keyboards) for the last two, before Fisk and Goode quit the band, leaving just Saunier and Matsuzaki (who were now a couple).
They recruited guitarist John Dieterich of Gorge Trio, completing their classic core line-up in 1999. The next two years were a period of gestation, composing and performing increasingly ambitious music, eventually releasing their first essential album Reveille (pronounced “rev-el-lee”) in 2002. For a few years, their albums had grand Prog-like concepts and musical ambition, but with none of the pretentions or production values, often recorded quickly, often live in their homes, and often with domestic equipment.
This Magnificent Bird Will Rise (Reveille, 2002):
A staggering run of excellent albums followed, with Apple O’, Milk Man and The Runners Four appearing, one year at a time, assisted by second guitarist Chris Cohen. When Cohen left to concentrate on his own band, the core three completed a home run with the fabulous Friend Opportunity. Together with Offend Maggie, these albums are a remarkable body of work and a period of frantic creative activity.
The Perfect Me (Friend Opportunity, 2007):
While recording Offend Maggie and still needing a guitarist to fill Cohen’s shoes, they recruited Ed Rodriguez (also of Gorge Trio), completing the line-up which exists to this day. A turbulent period followed, involving the separation of Saunier and Matsuzaki, and the relocation of all four members to different American cities – which would normally be enough to finish off most bands. In this time, they released several zigzagging projects: Deerhoof vs. Evil, Breakup Song, La Isla Bonita, and the joyous guest-laden Mountain Moves, each album having very different creative inspirations.
I Will Spite Survive (with Jenn Wasner, Mountain Moves, 2017):
The different members of Deerhoof keep busy with their own musical projects and collaborations. Since their relocations, they have used their collective experience to guide the direction of their group projects, meeting up regularly to write, record and tour (always in a rented minibus). In recent years, they have made an album about post-apocalyptic art (Future Teenage Cave Artists), retro-futurist avant-garde mash-ups (the excellent Love-Lore), positivism (Actually, You Can), more positivism but this time in Japanese (Miracle-Level), and societal exclusion (Noble and Godlike in Ruin).
Deerhoof continues to change tack and do its own thing, regardless of what anyone else wants.
Keith, Swanage Record Club ([link] swanagerecordclub.uk, @swanagerecordclub)
