Apple O'

Deerhoof

Deerhoof is an incredibly prolific indie rock and pop band from San Francisco. Over the course of their nearly 30 year career, they have released something like 18 full-length records, as well as countless EPs and singles. At the centre of just about all of those releases, we have the incomparable Greg Saunier behind the drum kit and Satomi Matsuzaki providing bass and vocals. Saunier is an absolute free spirit who eschews all drumming conventions, whether that be the types of grooves he plays, instrument selection, and how puts it to use. While they're styles are very different, you can perhaps draw parallels in drumming ethos to my all-time favourite drummer, Zach Hill. Matsuzaki's personality, on the other hand, feels quite small by comparison. I would describe her voice as delicate, sometimes timid and her bass playing often serves a very basic function. These two great musicians have been joined by a few different guitar players over the years, however, all of them brought the same kind of quirky and eccentric sound that the band is known for. Today we'll talk about the band's fifth record Apple O', one of their most beloved, and one of my personal favourites too.

Right from the very beginning with Dummy Discards a Heart, we hear these very hot and brittle guitars. It sounds like the guitars are on fire, and they continue to burn throughout most the record. Matsuzaki sits out on the intro baiting you to let down your guard as the drums and guitars by themselves feel a little thin. Once the bass comes, however, and Saunier starts crashing on the cymbals, you get the sense of just how blissfully heavy this band can be. In fact, if there is one thing this band does really well, it is how they incorporate dynamics into their songs. Take the song Apple Bomb for example. We get some pretty clean guitars, Saunier plays ever so softly on his drums, and the vocals are very light and cute. The song continues to build, occasionally foreshadowing a big climax to come, and when it finally arrives towards the end of the song, Saunier really digs into his drums, the guitars return with that fiery distortion, and there is a lot more force behind Matsuzaki's vocals.

I also really love the interplay between guitarists Chris Cohen and John Dieterich, especially on the song L'Amour Stories. The main riff is an oddly timed phrase where there is a bit of a ping-pong element between the hard panned guitars. The intro to this song is also quite beautiful with some lovely descending guitar arpeggios; it makes the entrance of that main riff I was talking about very unexpected and thrilling. As I said before, Deerhoof have a tendency to be a bit of an eccentric band, and that is displayed most prominently on the track Sealed With a Kiss. There are so many interesting sounds on this song: there's these very rigid guitar notes that maintain a steady march, high pitched digital alarm sounds, militant horns, drums that sound like they are coming from a factory, and so many more oddities.

A great deal of this material still excites me quite a bit, but there are a few songs that pale in comparison to others. Adam+Eve Connection can't seem to pick a direction as the first section reprises a riff from Sealed With a Kiss, except it is totally blown out with noise and compression. It transitions briefly into this Spanish guitar piece, only to once again redirect to an acoustic ballad aided by Saunier on vocals. Hayley and Homer is a brief little instrumental that isn't all that mind-blowing when compared to the other more quirky cuts here. I wouldn't call them dull though. In fact, there's rarely a dull moment when listening to a Deerhoof record. Their fun, and wacky approach to music has earned them a lot of respect from fellow musicians and prominent music publications. However, for one reason or another, the band always seemed to operate on the outside. If you somehow managed not to catch wind of them over the last 20 years or so, well consider this your chance. Apple O' is a great place to start.