Deerhoof

If you ever get a chance to see Deerhoof perform live, it's not really something you ought to think about: just go. Between Satomi's inexplicable sign language and joyful jumping about, Greg Saunier's frantic spazzing and incomprehensible speeches into the mic, and the band's comical chemistry, they're just a lot of fun to watch. I have to admit, I was expecting it to be more goofy than it was, after watching clips of them playing Perfect Me with Satomi waving around banana leaves and Greg just hitting things, but they still managed to bring across thier personality without compromising what's already great about thier music. They're just up there having a great time, and inviting you to join in. At some point Satomi came out and danced in the crowd, and I thought to myself - that's what Deerhoof is all about: they're aware of thier audience, willing to break the fourth wall that many bands would rather not.

The highlight of the show surprisingly came at the end, the first encore, when they played something that might have been a totally broken cover of Wilco's Kingpin, it was truly difficult to tell what the original song was. But it made me stop and think - maybe it's sad that the best song of the set isn't thier song at all, but a cover. And then I thought again, maybe it's great that they're willing to let a cover end thier set, because they just want to rock out and have a good time. Not only was it a cover (the only other cover I've ever heard them do was Let's Dance the Jet, which sounds like a Deerhoof song anyway so it's easy to forget it's a cover in the first place) but they gave the guitarist the mic and he f'ing stole the whole show. Where has this guy been? Why isn't he recording tracks? Man, it was so awesome. Then they finished up with Basketball Get Your Groove Back, of course, which was impressive - I hate that song, but seeing them perform it was something else. I squeezed my way up to the front and Satomi gave me bunny ears. Almost like recognition from one of my heroes.

The lackluster Deerhoof vs. Evil worried me, because it was just so joyless. But seeing them live has revived my love for them, reminding me of thier better days (Apple O, Revielle, Friend Opportunity, Milk Man), and making me wish I had gotten off my butt sooner and seen them when they were at the top of thier game. Maybe they're not a band of the past - maybe they have more eclectic awesomeness ahead - thier live show renewed my hopes.