Deerhoof (with Liam Finn & Formica Man)
Monday, November 12 at The National
It had been a while since I’d seen a quality noise show. Never having seen Deerhoof before, i was very excited to finally get a chance to hear the eclectic indie-rockers in person.
Deerhoof (with Liam Finn & Formica Man)
Monday, November 12 at The National
It had been a while since I’d seen a quality noise show. Never having seen Deerhoof before, i was very excited to finally get a chance to hear the eclectic indie-rockers in person. Formed in San Fransico in 1994, the talents behind their mix of noise, indie, and children’s singsongs have been blazing trails in the scene for some time. Satomi Matsuzaki, John Dieterich, Ed Rodriguez, and Greg Saunier make up the roster of Deerhoof – Matsuzaki’s high pitched vocals are a large part of the unique charm that emanates from their albums, and they were very present in their recent performance at the National.
The band each wore shirts with tassels attached – this created a delightful unison of flopping fabric as the members bounced in time with the music. I’m not sure, but I think Deerhoof managed to make “anywhere-stripper-pasties” hip. The performance shifted from song to song, with minor dialogue every 15 minutes or so. It was paced well, with ups and downs that seemed to make everyone comfortable – between the bits of well structured noise, of course. Though they had received recent acclaim for their newest album from some more mainstream sources (Entertainment Weekly called Deerhoof vs Evil “as beautifully bizarre as ever”), seeing them live is a refreshing reminder that noise breakdowns are still a large part of their sound.
The clash between Matsuzaki’s vocals and the screaming feedback worked incredibly well. Though the crowd at the show was small – mostly aging hipsters and local devotees – the energy on stage was high. Some good soul managed to get a decent audio recording from the show and put it on the youtubes – take a gander at the footage below and let us know what you think. Obviously a lot of you missed the show, and I’ll be able to shake my head in disapproval at you when you admit to that fact.
On a side note, with the small crowd present, I wondered if they would have had more success playing at Strange Matter instead of the cavernous space that is The National. Perhaps the proximity to campus would have made the crowds pour in, but maybe the only folks left to appreciate these guys are aging hipsters, and this was the best crowd they could muster.
