OFFEND MAGGIE

I did a double take. "The Tears and Music of Love" opened with driving hard rock, like something out of the seventies, and I did a double take. I was expecting frenetic drums and zany dual guitars and weird samples with nonsense "engrish" vocals. Well, that came in later. Deerhoof like to shapeshift their songs, and what starts out as traditional hard rock becomes a little more strange, and (odd for Deerhoof) just a wee bit somber.

On "Offend Maggie" gone are all of the cheesy synths of their past few albums. Things are a tad more direct here, although there is at least one experimental noise excursion, "This is God Speaking", that I play when I'm driving so people will think I'm being abducted by aliens.

My favorite song on Offend Maggie is "Chandelier Searchlight", a jaunty little number with an adorable chorus--I think the song is about death.

I think that Deerhoof are trying to be a little more mature on this album, although I'm not sure by how mature a band can get when they have written songs like "Basket Ball Get Your Groove Back" which is an enthusiastic song about basketball (and little more than that). It's probably my favorite quality to Deerhoof--the childlike innocence; Deerhoof can either sound like a bunch of six year old that have broken into a studio, or a bunch of progheads making intentionally messy, epic, two-minute masterpieces (sometime they can do both at once).

This is not quite entry-level Deerhoof, I would give that award to Friend Opportunity (for its conciseness), and I think I think Offend Maggie drags a little towards the end, but it is a quality album for those interested in a completely capable, completely strange, mix of "college rock", experimental weirdness, and prog.

Deerhoof are a unique band, a band that most prog lovers will not like. Offend Maggie, however may be thier most palatable and proggie release to date Family Of Others utalizes more acessable and harmonically complex singing and more upbeat rythims with psychadellic acoustic guitar that might remind some of classic 70s prog. Chandelier Searchlight should be right up the alley of more accepting kraut heads and Snoopy Waves will sound fermiliar to lovers of math-rock. That being sayed this is still Deerhoof and fans will still find rediculous little girl vocals and lyrics "bunny jump, bunny jump, bunny jump, go go champions speed speed champions." Greg Sauniers just plain strange drum lines and decidedly non-linear rythims also remain in tact. So what makes this particular album different than others in the Deerhoof catalouge? Well, the cheesy 80s synth pop element thats characterized their music of late but they have not gone back to the surreal Rolling Stones gone mad sound of their early recordings, instead their sound recalls experimental giants like Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo and Velvet Underground as well as the outer reaches of 70s prog rock. I strongly Reccomend this to any prog fan who is getting tired of the genre and looking for somthing to shine a new light on the subject.