So I attended this show last evening in Minneapolis. I've never seen Deerhoof in concert, but have heard/read a lot of good, even superior things about their concerts (compared to their albums).
And I think overall, that belief makes sense. They had this great, fun energy about them for more or less every tune. I think that is what made their performance as interesting as anything.
Set list? I am not going to pretend to know song titles by heart or anything given I really only have listened to their 2 most recent records, 2011's Deerhoof vs. Evil and 2008's Offend Maggie to any moderate amount of frequency. But I'm pretty sure the majority of the songs came from those 2 albums since I did recognize probably more than half of the songs they played.
I guess my belief that seeing them live may inspire me to try and hear and digest not only those 2 albums again/more thoroughly, but of course the size-able back catalog they have.
Today I'm listening to maybe their most well-known lp in 2004's Milk Man. And the record that came before it 2003's Apple O'.
But I guess I'm still seeking their acceptance to view them at a slightly higher level. They seem to be still a dichotomy to me. Their songs often have these really cool parts, however they rarely last too long. They're almost like a prog band with a punk mentality. Let's come up with an awesome section, and chop it in half for the song.
Kiss Kiss are 1 band who kind of write music in that mind set I sense, except I guess their songs seem less of a tease. They wrap those ideas into whole songs more consistently.
But damn, Deerhoof have so gawd damn many songs with those little sections, I really think more effort on my part should be worth giving to really get a more accurate gauge on them.
Cloud Cult I can say recently I have done that with and thus far, has definitely been worthwile. I'm still in the process of getting to know many of their albums better, but I've given them more time and can say I view them and their whole catalog at another level now.
I think Deerhoof are primed for a similar breakthrough for me. And certainly finally seeing them last night helped.
The vocals namely are sort of the biggest hurdle. I like them, but they don't stand out extremely well on every song. The female japanese style with noisey, dissonant power-chords seems incongruous , but I really can't say it doesn't work. I think their singer's vocals can be looked at like many extreme/death metal vocal lines. They aren't the part of the music that grabs me, but every once in awhile they surprise me enough, that over time they become more enjoyable.
Satomi Matsuzaki, their singer is kind of brilliant in that way. I don't expect to like them, but with little time and taking them in enough, they have a tendency to be pretty good.
I suppose another report about my exploration into Deerhoof's older work should be in order if I have the time and remember to, likely in 2011.
I also can't forget, part of what I dig about Deerhoof is the guitar tones they use, which remind me at times very much of Oceansize. If you are an Oceansize fan, Deerhoof is one to check out. There's good reason why Mike Vennart is such a big fan of them. Also their drummer, Greg Saunier, just pounded his skins last night, kind of reminding me of Danny Seim from Menomena in some ways (or John Bohnam of Led Zeppelin who some have compared Danny to).