Tuesday's Recommended Release(s)

In this age of disposable art and instant gratification we seem to ask a lot of our artists. Whether it's for a slight change with each progressive step or some sort of growth it seems to be a lot to ask of a band or an artist at any level of their career. At some point we have to realize that "old dogs" really aren't going to be learning any new tricks and we must decide whether the merits of their current art are still worth our attention. With Offend Maggie, it seems that Deerhoof has reached this point in their career. With a dozen releases in their past, huge leaps in growth over the last four, and a refined powerful sound in their pocket it seems that Deerhoof has found a place where they are comfortable and where the don't necessarily need to explore themselves any longer. And after a number of listens I have to say that they steadiness of the sound and the power within the dichotomy of the loudness of the music and the relative calm of the vocals makes for a very interesting and invigorating listen.

At every corner of Offend Maggie there are elements of Deerhoof that have been tested, honed, and sharpened over years of work and writing. There are the cutesy, calming vocals of Satomi Matsuzaki, the bombastic drumming of Greg Saunier, and the steady guitaring from John Dieterich and newcomer Ed Rodriguez. The sum of the parts is the key though and Deerhoof once again put together a comprehensive and cohesive piece of music. It rises and falls beautifully, going from songs that hinge on the soothing vocals of Matsuzaki to songs that are driven by the hard skin hitting of Saunier. I won't go and say it's remarkably new or refreshing, but the consistency of the album is what gives it its greatest strength.

Obviously fans of the band aren't going to have a hard time getting into Offend Maggie and it may even grab some new fans, but it's not going to change anything you think about Deerhoof in the least. They aren't reinventing the wheel here, they are just making an album of songs they are comfortable with.
Deerhoof - "Offend Maggie"
Deerhoof - "My Purple Past"

With the release of last year's In Advance of the Broken Arm, Marnie Stern seemed to draw a line in the sand for all of the indie rock spectrum. And clearly people filled in both sides of that line as haters came out in droves to ransack her vocals while admirers drove the idea of her abilities as a guitar virtuoso into as many open minds as they could find. But for some reason a clear answer was not found, is this style of technique over artistry the future of rock music or is it just something that will play out as a quick fad? With the release of This Is It & I Am It & You Are It & So Is That & He Is Is & She Is It & It Is It & That Is That goes a bit further towards answering that question simply by adding a bass player and by showing off a fair balance of technique and artistry at the same time.

For most of This Is It... Marnie and drummer Zach Hill play off of each other, with Marnie setting the tempo of the music with her tenacious finger tapping abilities and Hill and bassist John-Reed Thompson echoing every change with their furious rhythms. The resulting insanity is one of the most interesting albums I've had the chance of hearing this year, giving us examples of premium musicianship and rhythm and usage of looping. But Marnie also tops herself on her sophomore album by adding a little more melody to her vocals and not just prancing through every song as quickly as possible. There still are no true pop tunes on this album, but there are songs that are able to breathe a bit beneath the burden of all the technically superb aspects of the album.

So maybe the line has been blurred a bit by the addition of some vocal melody, but for the most part this still paves the way for technical masters to start crafting some more interesting sounds instead of putzing around with all the tomes of classical music they still seem to be farting around with. Or maybe more and more people will despise the seeming sterility of this type of sound, but personally I don't see that at all and I don't see how any music lover could hate a sound this complex and interesting.
Marnie Stern - "Transformer"
Marnie Stern - "The Devil Is In The Details"

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