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Deerhoof celebrate their 20th anniversary by revisiting their roots as a noise project slumming it in San Francisco’s mid-90s punk scene. After spending 10 days in guitarist Ed Rodriguez’s basement working on what they thought were demos, they realized on the last day that they had a full-fledged album on their hands.
Recorded live, La Isla Bonita is harsh and dissonant, with as many dicey guitar spasms and eerily saccharine-sweet vocals courtesy of bassist Satomi Matsuzaki and as much perfectly off-kilter drumming as heard on their early tunes. But the band’s grown up, too. There are honest-to-goodness catchy hooks here.
Opener Paradise Girls is loud and repetitive but with a Dirty Projectorsesque guitar line that stays in your head long after it’s over. Closer Oh Bummer, sung by drummer Greg Saunier, is a straightforward moody rock song – at least for the first three minutes, after which a striking doomsday-meets-Thriller breakdown erupts, reminding diehard fans that the band members are still weirdos but also keeping fair-weather listeners at a distance.
Top track: Paradise Girls
Deerhoof play Lee’s Palace on November 13.
