Buzzin Music Blog

Deerhoof – Offend Maggie – Album Review

In the past, a lot has been made of Deerhoof’s eccentricity, with many finding that whilst the group’s song writing may be incredibly original, it can be rather difficult to swallow. However, there is something compelling about Deerhoof that brings listeners back to them time and again.

Deerhoof fill a gap in the market that no-one really knew was there: minimalist rock, quirky song structures, even more quirky lyrics of mixed English and Japanese, and a weird ability to place something catchy amid the squall of other-worldly, yet in fact very earthly, sounds.

The first listen to Offend Maggie, Deerhoof’s second album in consecutive years (last year’s Friend Opportunity was a critically acclaimed success) is a baffling one. How did anyone come up with this music? Why were such strange lyrics ever conceived? Why are the songs apparently governed by the words and not the tunes and rhythms?

But much like a lot of Deerhoof’s work, it is because there is something of the conceptual here. Offend Maggie’s cover, a black and white drawing of a faceless man with his foot posed on a chair on a blank white background pretty much says it all. These are songs with a warm human touch, placed on a very harsh and cold background minimalist background. Various objects relieve the solace, but never is there truly something more than temporary to fill the void, or satisfy the despairing mind.

Album opener “The Tears Of Music And Love”, (one of Deerhoof’s many great titles on Offend Maggie) is a perfect example. There is little more than drums and a guitar riff at most points, and even these sound vulnerable at times. Yet then Satomi Matsuzaki places a catchy pop melody over the top – singing to herself in Japanese about valleys and forests.

There are, however more playful songs too, like the very poppy “Chandelier Seachlight” and “Fresh Born”, where Satomi’s Japanese high-pitched accent makes the songs sound like the crazy Japanese television shows you sometimes see on Tarrant on TV.

Offend Maggie, then, ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous. The more conceptual songs in themselves “Buck and Judy”, “Basket Ball Get Your Groove Back” – where the drums are made to sound like bouncing basketballs – can be fairly irritating to listen to. But the album as a whole contains such moments of searing human warmth juxtaposed against blank, cold backgrounds that it is once again a fascinating and compelling listen from Deerhoof.

You can hear their songs here. Deerhoof will be performing live at the University of London Union on the 2nd of December.

Offend Maggie is out now on ATP records and is worth buying for the artwork alone.