Deerhoof

Deerhoof emerged among the most celebrated groups of the new millennium by fusing bright melodies with noise and an experimental ethos to produce music of singular character. Their distinctive method allowed them to absorb any influence, whether from classic rock or classical traditions, while remaining unmistakably themselves. Across decades of steady output they seldom revisited the same approach, moving from the noisy improvisation of 1997’s The Man, The King, The Girl to the tighter focus of 1999’s Holdy Paws. Further shifts appeared in the expansive design of 2005’s The Runners Four and the concise yet wide-ranging Friend Opportunity of 2007, which touched post-punk, jazz, and psych-rock. Later albums such as 2011’s Deerhoof vs. Evil wove in Tropicalia and synth-pop threads, while 2014’s La Isla Bonita drew on surf, disco, and punk. Their inventiveness extended past recordings: they issued a composition as sheet music in 2008, sparked a children’s ballet drawn from the 2004 album Milk Man, and performed at the Large Hadron Collider. In the 2020s their longstanding engagement with social causes surfaced more plainly on the probing Future Teenage Cave Artists and the candid, exposed Miracle-Level of 2023, both of which continued to startle audiences in their customary fashion.

The group originated in 1994 when guitarist Rob Fisk began an improvisational venture; drummer and keyboardist Greg Saunier joined within a week. After appearing at that year’s Yoyo A Go Go festival they signed with Kill Rock Stars, which put out the March 1995 7" “Return of the Woods M’Lady.” Early efforts including For Those of Us on Foot carried a sharper, no-wave edge yet already suggested the playful quality that would define later work. Mid-1995 brought vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Satomi Matsuzaki into the lineup shortly after her arrival in San Francisco from Japan; she had never played in a band previously. She featured on the 1996 self-titled double 7" released by Menlo Park, though personnel continued to shift, among them Chris Cooper of Angst Hase Pfeffer Nase. Their October 1997 debut album The Man, The King, The Girl presented their version of pop songs built around toy instruments and centered on Matsuzaki’s lucid yet unpredictable melodies. The “Come See the Duck” 7" followed on Banano a year later.

Fisk departed after 1999’s Holdy Paws, an album that deliberately reduced improvisation and noise. Late that year former Gorge Trio guitarist John Dieterich joined on guitar. The live set Koalamagic surfaced on Australia’s Dual Plover label in 2000. Saunier and Matsuzaki then finished pre-Fisk recordings that became Halfbird, issued by Menlo Park in July 2001. That same year they released the “My Pal Foot Foot” 7", a cover of the Shaggs classic also included on the Better Than the Beatles tribute. June 2002’s kaleidoscopic Reveille, the first album to feature Dieterich, marked their critical breakthrough through its broad sonic range and memorable melodies. Guitarist Chris Cohen had joined by the time of its release. His studio debut arrived with the following year’s Apple O’, which coalesced rapidly in a single nine-hour session engineered by Jay Pellicci. Like its predecessor, Apple O’ drew strong praise, prompting the members to leave day jobs and devote themselves fully to the band and touring. Also in 2003 they contributed to the benefit compilation Azadi! A Benefit Compilation for the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, while Saunier formed Nervous Cop with Hella’s Zach Hill and Joanna Newsom; that trio’s self-titled album appeared in November.

Deerhoof returned in March 2004 with Milk Man, a concept album shaped by Ken Kagami’s illustrations along with Broadway, Igor Stravinsky, and prog rock. That April they performed at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival curated by Sonic Youth and Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks. The ensuing mini-album Green Cosmos became their first release sung entirely in Japanese and highlighted classical and electronic leanings. For their seventh album the band spent months in an Oakland, California rehearsal space; the outcome was October’s ambitious The Runners Four, another conceptual project in which members traded vocal and instrumental roles across its lengthy span. The next year proved equally active: they toured alongside the Flaming Lips, the Fiery Furnaces, and Mary Timony, appeared on Danielson’s album Ships, and supplied an original score for Harry Smith’s Heaven and Earth Magic at the San Francisco International Film Festival. After that performance Cohen left amicably; Deerhoof posted a free EP online in tribute. Continuing as a trio, Saunier, Matsuzaki, and Dieterich collaborated with composer Ed Shearmur on the soundtrack for Dedication, directed by Justin Theroux. Later a children’s ballet based on Milk Man was staged in North Haven, Maine. January 2007 brought Friend Opportunity, a sleek, compact, and eclectic collection.

After a world tour that included New York’s Highline Festival at David Bowie’s invitation, guitarist Ed Rodriguez (of Gorge Trio, XBXRX, and the Flying Luttenbachers) joined in early 2008. That year the band released sheet music for “Fresh Born” so listeners could create their own versions. October’s Offend Maggie revisited the expansive approach of The Runners Four while restoring the dual-guitar lineup of earlier records. Live shows at the time featured collaborations with figures such as Wadada Leo Smith and LiLiPUT’s Marlene Marder. In 2009 they appeared in Adam Pendleton’s film BAND portraying the Rolling Stones and contributed the song “I Did Crimes for You” to its soundtrack. Along with performing Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures alongside Xiu Xiu in Australia and Brooklyn, Deerhoof spent much of 2010 preparing their next album, leaking tracks to various outlets in a virtual scavenger hunt that preceded the January 2011 arrival of their tenth studio album, Deerhoof vs. Evil, their first for Polyvinyl. That release blended synth pop, Tropicalia, and the Beach Boys within its shifting sound; companion 7"s featured Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, David Bazan, and Busdriver supplying their own lyrics to selected tracks. Additional 2011 projects included a contribution to Polyvinyl’s Japan 3.11.11 benefit compilation and participation in the Congotronics vs. Rockers touring ensemble alongside Juana Molina, Konono No. 1, and Kasai Allstars.

When the band convened for their eleventh album the members resided in four separate cities; working by email they produced September 2012’s Breakup Song, which took an affirmative stance toward songs of romantic dissolution. The following month they issued “Sexy, but Sparkly,” recorded for the Masters from Their Day series with Chris Shaw—the first occasion they enlisted an outside producer. In March 2013 Chicago’s 22-piece Ensemble Dal Niente premiered “Deerhoof Chamber Variations,” an arrangement of songs spanning the band’s catalog, at New York’s Ecstatic Music Festival. For 2014’s La Isla Bonita the members gathered at Rodriguez’s home and recorded Ramones- and Madonna-inspired material in a single week. The next year they became the first group to improvise at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider and appeared on the Joyful Noise compilation 50 Bands & a Cat for Indiana Equality, supporting Indiana’s LGBTQ community. Also in 2015 they released the live album Fever 121614 documenting a Tokyo performance from the La Isla Bonita tour. Early 2016 found them joining composer Marcos Balter and Ensemble Dal Niente for Balter/Saunier, which incorporated a medley of Deerhoof songs arranged for the ensemble. June brought The Magic, an unrestrained set that included three previously unused tracks created for the HBO series Vinyl. As Joyful Noise’s Artist in Residence for 2017 they issued multiple limited-edition releases and the politically charged Mountain Moves that September; the album called for resistance and featured appearances by Laetitia Sadier, Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner, and Juana Molina together with covers of songs by the Staple Singers and Bob Marley. Marking their 25th anniversary in 2019, Deerhoof issued remastered reissues of The Man, The King, The Girl, Holdy Paws, and Halfbird.

New music arrived in May 2020 with Future Teenage Cave Artists, a darker yet ultimately hopeful reflection on contemporary political turmoil that contained some of their most overtly demanding work in years. That September they released Love-Lore, a 35-minute medley of 43 pieces by artists including Ornette Coleman, Ennio Morricone, Eddy Grant, and the B-52s, first presented at the 2019 Time:Spans Festival. They carried forward elements of that album’s eclecticism and the spontaneous energy of their concerts into October 2021’s Actually, You Can, which incorporated Baroque, Tejano, and Japanese festival music influences into its cheerfully subversive songs. That November the band played its first concert in two years in Rodriguez’s basement, streaming the performance and issuing it as the live album Devil Kids the following month. Mid-2022 they began work on their nineteenth album with producer Mike Bridavsky at Winnipeg’s No Fun Club studio. Favoring live takes over extensive editing, March 2023’s brisk, optimistic Miracle-Level became their first album sung entirely in Japanese and the first recorded wholly in a professional studio.