Search - Deerhoof :: Man King Girl

Mind-scrambling cacophony & catchy sweet pop

Zachary A. Hanson | 05/13/1998

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Deerhoof throw together scratchy, crumbing, random noisescapes that spontaneously coalesce into sweet pop anthems- "Polly Bee" is the best example of this phenomenon, and may be the best song ever written, ever."

Hear How Deerhoof Brought the Noise

Zachary A. Hanson | Tallahassee, FL United States | 05/23/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"And not a lot else. Like another review says, this is poorly- recorded and punishing noise for a large part. In this early release, it seems like a good portion of the band is not especially proficient on their instruments, as they are now.



This doesn't really mean you shouldn't buy this, at least if you like Deerhoof's more well-conceived recent works like _Apple O'_ and _The Runners Four_. Think of this as research as to how they got so mind-blowingly good. The ingredients are here: the use of noise, of course, but also the cute songs like "Gore in Rut" ("bunny, bunny, bunny, bunny, bunny, bunny") and "Polly Bee." "Gore in Rut" also comes in a live version entitled "Gore in Crown," which sounds as if Satomi is singing two rooms beneath where the band plays. Again, interesting principally for its disconcerting effect on the listener, not necessarily for its harmonic genius or structured use of noise (both factors you would want to analyze on more recent releases).



I would like to meet the person who listens to this album over and over like I do with _Milk Man_, say. I would like to hear why this is a really good album, as I like to consider myself an open-minded lover of all challenging forms of music. As for now, this is an intriguing curiosity in my Deerhoof collection, one I don't foresee catching the fever for (like I never caught the fever for the earliest Sonic Youth recordings like _Sonic Death_ and _Made in America_ while still not literally disliking them). They bring the noise here, but don't turn the noise into something as transcendent as, say, early Stockhausen or later Deerhoof."