With Deerhoof

I never gave Deerhoof much of a chance early on. My experience with the band had been limited to the songs I had heard off of their EP Green Cosmos which was entirely in Japanese and lent itself to sounding as totally off the wall, screechy half-serious j-pop-esque derivatives . I wanted to be down, I knew that KRS wouldn't lead me astray or their (at that time newly created) sub-imprint 5RC.
The first track from The Runners 4, 'Chatterboxes', immediately ingrained a more cohesive sound than before. The composition over individual sound mentality that fractured Apple'O and Milkman (for me at least) gave way to deeper harmonics and a defined song sentiment. The Green Cosmos EP was vocalist's Satomi Matsuzaki opportunity to refine her singing style in her native Japanese and she came back top The Runners 4 with a more refined approach to English harmony.
Slim Moon's Kill Rock Stars records has its best selling and longest-producing artist with Deerhoof. Though they rarely seem to tour the East Coast, so I cant say for myself, I have heard they put on terrific and lenghty live performances with the impassioned Matsuzaki tearing into vocals while longtime drummer Greg Saunier keeps the time signatures changing frequently and into places you wouldn't expect them to go.

The Runners 4 is the longest Deerhoof release to date and probably their best portal for new fans. Songs like 'O'Malley, Former Underdog' and 'Lightning Rod Sun' are great examples of the band solidifying their varied inputs and elevating their eccentricities into a refined composition.

The Runners 4 was released on Kill Rock Stars as LP and CD in 2005.

Download it here, and please as always, if you dig it, fork over some dough and pick it up in the tangible good commerce sense or pick up any other Deerhoof releases.

Deerhoof - Official page

Kill Rock Stars

Add Deerhoof at MySpace