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Deerhoof – Miracle-Level (Joyful Noise) – Sit Down, Let Me Tell You a Story, let me tell you about the new Deefhoof album and by the time we’ve passed the delight of the already heard single My Lovely Cat! (and that slight feel of a breezy Led Zeppelin that Lovely Cat has), by the time we’ve said hello again to the cat and reached the third delightful track in,The Poignant Melody, a piece thatis just gorgeous, restrained by Deerhoof standards, restrained, tingling, full of time and space, just gorgeous and of course by the time we get to that third track we already know they’ve done it again. A new Deerhoof album is always going to be something of a treat, you already know that, how could they not ever serve up a treat? This latest album, Miracle-Level is as special as anything they’ve done, Deerhoof really are an utter utter delight, they’re always been delightful. And it all sounds simple, easy, effortless, you have to be clever to make is sound and feel as easy as this, you have to be good! The San Francisco, band are sounding as complex as ever, properly progressive, cleverly complex but it all sounds so deliciously simple (I wonder how many times I can get away with saying ‘delightful’ in a review)
“Deerhoof’s new album, Miracle-Level, was produced, recorded, and mixed by Mike Bradavski at No Fun Studios in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It’s the band’s 19th album and the first to be produced, recorded and mixed entirely in a recording studio. All of the songs are in Japanese”.
Yes indeed, all sung in Satomi Matsuzaki’s native Japanese and It really doesn’t feel like they’ve been around long enough to make nineteen albums? Surely they haven’t, are they really into a third decade as a band? And yes, all songs sung in Japanese so you can’t quite catch what they’re singing about, you don’t quite know if there are any ducks to come see, you do get a feel though, and the titles are all in English and right now, the moon is laughing and by Deerhoof standards they’re rocking out. Oh look, Deerhoof have done it again, I’m a fan, they’re one of the world’s more consistently good bands, they excite me, they thrill me (I’m excited, I’m delighted). Besides singing it all in Japanese this time they’re really not doing anything that radically different here, maybe some of it is a little more restrained and a little quieter, maybe some of it is even more delightful than last time (if that’s possible?), still as strong as ever, as effortlessly complex, the kind of thing that thrills people who like bands like Cardiacs or Extra Life, this is still the Deerhoof who have covered Voivod, and Momentary Art of Soul! is like dancing in the summer rain if the rain was to be coming down in the strangely mischievous patterns.
Apparently recorded in single takes with minimal overdubs, the confidence once again radiates, they are and always have been a clever band, a band who know what they do and what it means, they really are delightfully whimsical, their energetic sound is so approachable, I guess that’s where that Cardiacs/Sea Nymphs feel comes from – they don’t sound anything like Cardiacs (or Sa Nymphs), they just feel like they do, they have that delightful magical feel, that rare thing, that special thing, a joyful noise indeed. And the details are there, the bits that catch your ears, that hold you there and give you something new with every play, oh I love this band and yes, I should have reviewed this album weeks ago, I’ve just been enjoying it too much to take the time to stop and think about it.
They are still live-wires, they are still stopping and starting and going off and things, they’re as awkwardly good as ever and somehow it sounds even more easy on the ear this time. This certainly isn’t just another Deerhoof album, just another Deerhoof album would be more than enough but you know they’re never going to do just that, Deerhoof are sounding as special as ever, as delightful as they’ve always been (sw)
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THE ORGAN 