It’s hard to pinpoint what “consistency” means in the context of a restless band like Deerhoof, who have spent the past 20 years crafting record after record of experimental rock music—each sounding distinct from one another but also sounding unmistakably like Deerhoof. While it’s true a single moment of their inscrutable avant-pop can sometimes recall other artists—a garage-y guitar riff, a Stereolab-y keyboard part, a Fugazi drum roll—each Deerhoof record (or even song) mashes all of these things together in a way that feels completely exclusive to them.
It should be no surprise then that The Magic stands out from the rest of their output while still being “another Deerhoof record.” Like on 2014’s La Isla Bonita and 2011’s Vs. Evil, this new album shows the band continuing their recent trend toward music that is ever-so-slightly more accessible. But unlike on those records, which each featured plenty of synths and a number of soft spotlight pop moments, The Magic—recorded in seven days in an abandoned office in a New Mexico desert—is one of their loosest and most rock-influenced records yet, with the guitars placed front and center.
Beginning with a ripping riff and galloping drums worthy of the White Stripes, the “bring the rock” mentality is made clear from the album’s opening moments on “The Devil And His Anarchic Surrealist Retinue” (a title apparently taken from a section of Alex Ross’ The Rest Is Noise describing Stalinist opera). A few of the album’s tracks go even further, all the way to traditional-rock-song territory. “That Ain’t No Life to Me,” sung by guitarist Ed Rodriguez, pumps out no-frills garage-grunge, complete with simple, allusion-free lyrics. “Dispossessor” is a bit more interesting, channeling ’70s arena guitar into a less sexy Cobra Verde. And “Plastic Thrills” features a lip-snarling guitar line, woo-woo backing vocals, and even handclaps. These three tracks are so unexpectedly straightforward that it’s almost hard to believe that it’s Deerhoof.
It’s no coincidence that all three feature male lead vocals in place of main vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki’s typical dreamy sing-speak chants, perhaps the band’s biggest distinguishing factor. While the male voices of Rodriguez and drummer Greg Saunier help fill out Deerhoof’s sound palette, particularly on harmonies, it’s Satomi’s voice that consistently makes Deerhoof sound both cool and weird. It works like an instrument in the same way that out-of-place vocalist Damo Suzuki’s yelps worked on Can’s classic run; in either case, going with a traditional white male rock voice would have dumbed down the musical output. The Magic’s rock’n’roll feel extends throughout the record, but Satomi thankfully leads the way. Both “Model Behavior” and “Debut” are deliciously funky, with the latter sounding almost like a Satomi-fronted take on Bowie’s Station to Station. And “Kafe Mania!” blends bursting guitars with the Deerhoof mainstay technique of Satomi singing a mirrored melody of an accompanying keyboard line to great effect.
The Magic’s true highlight though is “Criminals of the Dream,” a five minute epic that begins with a dreamy synth intro that sounds like it could play over a scene of Atreyu and Falcor in The Neverending Story, before a kraut guitar and Satomi’s vocals kick in. After a long build-up, the song finally climaxes with a minute of one of the most gorgeous melodies Deerhoof has ever put to record. The circling chords and refrain of “I know you can dream things aren't as bad as they seem” makes you wish the song would just go on forever, even though you know it won’t.
As rock-leaning as it may be, The Magic is no less an acquired taste than most of the other records Deerhoof have put out. The strange vocals and constant, hyperactive changes in pace will never be for everyone, and the overall bursting-at-the-seams-ness can even impart a feeling of exhaustion in a listener. Within the context of Deerhoof’s oeuvre, The Magic is a bit of a back-to-the-garage reset that doesn’t approach the heights of career apexes Friend Opportunity and Runners Four*,* but offers a fresh energy that rewards the converted.
