Deerhoof - Deerhoof Vs. Evil

(ATP Recordings)

A recording can’t properly do justice to the strange and playful madness of San Franciscan sonic adventurers Deerhoof, but this is still an entertaining album that’s rich in sonic adventure. The group merge virtuoso classical guitar with Satomi Matsuzaki’s crystal-sharp singing voice on ‘No-One Asked to Dance’, freak out with the monster movie instrumental ‘Let’s Dance the Jet’ and come closer than ever to bona fide indie-pop majesty during ‘Super Duper Rescue Heads!’ and ‘Hey I Can’.

Despite being a DIY self-recording, …Vs Evil is as clean and precise as anything they’ve produced, allowing the unrelenting invention exemplified by off-kilter blues track ‘Secret Mobilization’ and semi-acoustic funk odyssey ‘I Did Crimes For You’ to ring out.