Country : United States Label : Joyful Noise Genres and styles : Avant-Pop / Experimental / Contemporary / Indie Rock / Psych-Rock Year : 2021

Deerhoof – Actually You Can

· by Steve Naud

In the opening moments of Actually, You Can—Deerhoof’s eighteenth album—Satomi Matsuzaki’s honeyed voice whispers something about growing tomatoes when in fact it’s onions that have been planted. After this agricultural, a cappella introduction, John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez’s thunderous guitars and drummer Greg Saulnier’s insanely furious rhythms break through. This magma of noise gradually transmutes into a melody, that of an aria by Georg Friedrich Haendel, while the singer hums a text that refers as much to the descent of Christ into Hell as to an essay by author and activist Maya Angelou. Whew! To think that this is only the first tune on the program! Other surprises await the listener who dares to embark on this postmodern rollercoaster, like the deconstructed version of “La Bamba” with fevered guitars on “Scarcity Is Manufactured”. The cement that unites the disparate stones of this edifice is the virtuoso drumming of the tireless Saulnier. Saulnier is the real master builder of the record since, due to the pandemic, he had to amalgamate the different musical parts on files sent to him by the other members of the band scattered all over the world. Qualifying his approach of “DIY baroque”, he conceived a teeming musical suite alternating cheerful, sonorous hodge-podge and calmer pieces from which very beautiful melodies emerge. Following in the footsteps of Beefheart and Zappa, Deerhoof have been delivering their mutant rock for over a quarter of a century. After 2020, during which they released no less than three albums, the band shows an impressive vitality on this new opus full of sap and energy.

Latest 360 Content

Festival de Lanaudière | Leonardo Garcia Alarcon/Monteverdi’s Coronation of Popea: being marketwise

Festival de Lanaudière | Leonardo Garcia Alarcon/Monteverdi’s Coronation of Popea: being marketwise

FIJM | Nate Smith and his Supremely Talented Quartet

FIJM | Nate Smith and his Supremely Talented Quartet

FIJM | Nai Palm? Creature of Exception! Hawa B? Future Star!

FIJM | Nai Palm? Creature of Exception! Hawa B? Future Star!

FIJM 2025 | Funky funky, Trombone Shorty

FIJM 2025 | Funky funky, Trombone Shorty

FIJM | Nubya Garcia Becomes a Star in MTL

FIJM | Nubya Garcia Becomes a Star in MTL

FIJM 2025 | Symphonic Avishai Cohen: Bewitching magic

FIJM 2025 | Symphonic Avishai Cohen: Bewitching magic

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Phantom Island

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Phantom Island

Common Holly – Anything glass

Common Holly – Anything glass

FIJM I Hanorah Sets the TD Stage Ablaze with Soulful R&B

FIJM I Hanorah Sets the TD Stage Ablaze with Soulful R&B

FIJM | Jeff Goldblum: Storyteller, Comedian and Pianist, 3 in 1

FIJM | Jeff Goldblum: Storyteller, Comedian and Pianist, 3 in 1

FIJM I Still Taking Us There, Mavis Staples Electrifies Montreal JazzFest

FIJM I Still Taking Us There, Mavis Staples Electrifies Montreal JazzFest

FIJM | Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – Ventre Unique

FIJM | Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – Ventre Unique

Fantastic Negrito – Son of A Broken Man

Fantastic Negrito – Son of A Broken Man

Cumbia, Chaos, and Resistance: Empanadas Illegales Bring the Heat to Montreal Jazz Fest

Cumbia, Chaos, and Resistance: Empanadas Illegales Bring the Heat to Montreal Jazz Fest

Turnstile – Never Enough

Turnstile – Never Enough

FIJM | Meggie Lennon and The Desire Days Story

FIJM | Meggie Lennon and The Desire Days Story

FIJM | Dianne Reeves and Romero Lubambo: An Intimate Duo of Virtuosos

FIJM | Dianne Reeves and Romero Lubambo: An Intimate Duo of Virtuosos

FIJM | Brandon Woody’s Upendo: Baltimore Represents !

FIJM | Brandon Woody’s Upendo: Baltimore Represents !

FIJM | Stella Cole: From Tik Tok to The Biggest Jazz Stages

FIJM | Stella Cole: From Tik Tok to The Biggest Jazz Stages

ALICE on Her X

ALICE on Her X

FIJM  | Samara Joy: Pushing Classic Vocal Jazz Repertoire to its Limits

FIJM | Samara Joy: Pushing Classic Vocal Jazz Repertoire to its Limits

FIJM | Nas symphonic and Nas not symphonic

FIJM | Nas symphonic and Nas not symphonic

Suoni | The Jellicle KIKI Ball #2 – Feline Grace is Served

Suoni | The Jellicle KIKI Ball #2 – Feline Grace is Served

Suoni | The Dark, Wicked, Warm and Absurd on the Same Dish

Suoni | The Dark, Wicked, Warm and Absurd on the Same Dish

Subscribe to our newsletter