This record is for you if you think the naked emperor's violin playing is out of tune and has too much reverb. It you aspire to never graduate from the underclass. If you think Coke and Pepsi taste the same. If you think emotion stirred by a computer simulation is as worthless as a bad Chaplin mustache.
If there is one thing that
Deerhoof has consistently achieved over their 20-year spanning career, it is keeping listeners on their toes. But that's the extent of their consistency. From album to album and tour to tour, the prolific foursome has fused pop, art, noise, classical, politics and punk, messaging in a way that is never expected.
"Americanization used to mean copying our entertainment and sports, now it means sharing in our financial disasters. This record is meant to be like waltzes: dance music from a decadent society that is crashing." from drummer Greg Saunier's track-by-track guide
On the surface La Isla Bonita is already being hailed as a playful and very catchy punk rock record. MOJO calls it "maverick pop genius," saying, "It shouldn't work. But it does, delivering surrealist pop of such unforced immediacy, such joyful invention, it could brighten any day." NPR First Listen's love-letter of a review cuts to the core: "For 20 years,
Deerhoof has found special and exciting ways to make you feel as if you head might explode."
But as always, the flowers and pandas are not what they first appear.
Deerhoof plays on the absurdity of art and music in the face of a cold world seemingly awash in no-win scenarios. This is exemplified in the "Mirror Monster" video revealed today. Filmmaker Todd Chandler shot the autumnal footage one year ago in a Queens parking lot, and happened to show it to Greg just as
Deerhoof was starting to write a new record. The poetic footage helped solidify dark themes of a decaying empire whose dubious legacy it is too late to erase. "When I saw these cars getting smooshed, the lyrics just came."
Line of Best Fit calls "Mirror Monster" "a melancholy meditation on identity, and quite possibly what it is like to come of age as a band." Michael Azerrad hears "an exquisite ballad, one of the most beautiful things
Deerhoof has ever done, with classical chords and prismatic guitars and dramatic key changes, but it's also an angry, post-apocalyptic song."
Cheers to
The Wall Street Journal for having the guts to premier "Mirror Monster" today.
Deerhoof National Tour Dates:
11/4: Brooklyn, NY @ Baby's All Right (w/ Tim Barnes, Xenia Rubinos)
11/5: Brooklyn, NY @ Baby's All Right (w/ Assembly, Zannie Owens w/ Mount Yucca)
11/6: Brooklyn, NY @ Baby's All Right (w/ White Reaper, Trans Am)
11/7: Falls Church, VA @
State Theatre (w/ White Reaper, Xenia Rubinos)
11/8: Charlottesville, VA @ The
Southern (w/ White Reaper, Xenia Rubinos)
11/9: Philadelphia, PA @ Union
Transfer (w/ White Reaper, Cibo Matto)
11/11: Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge (w/ White Reaper, Priests)
11/12: Kalamazoo, MI @ Louie's Back Room (w/ White Reaper, Priests)
11/13: Toronto, ON @
Lee's Palace (w/ White Reaper, Priests)
11/14: Montreal, QC @ Cabaret Piccolo Rialto (w/ White Reaper, Priests)
11/15: Pawtucket, RI @ The Met (w/ Priests, Lightning Bolt)
11/17: Los Angeles, CA @ The
Troubadour (w/ Go Dark, Crystal Skulls)
11/18: San Francisco, CA @
Great American Music Hall (w/ Go Dark, Crystal Skulls)
11/20: Portland, OR @
Doug Fir Lounge (w/ Go Dark, Busdriver)
11/21: Seattle, WA @ Neumo's (w/ Go Dark, Busdriver)
11/22: Vancouver, BC @ Fortune (w/ Go Dark, Busdriver)
Photo Credit: Chad Kamenshine
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