A bitterly cold and foggy night in Sacramento ended in the inviting embrace of crunching guitars and the playful bashing of drums. Deerhoof was in town to promote their latest release, Deerhoof vs Evil (Polyvinyl Records) – a quirky album with a discernible pop twist.
Truth be told, before Thursday (Jan 27th) night’s show at Harlow’s I’d never paid attention to the band – not for any particular reason; I just never got around to checking them out. But something about their latest effort, which I find endearing, grabbed my attention and I’m glad it did.
The band took over the tiny stage at a leisurely pace, setting up their equipment in no particular hurry. Drummer, Greg Saunier, adjusted his Remo kit while chatting amiably with what seemed to be more than an acquaintance. He’d take a few moments throughout the show to either adjust his cymbals or tighten his snare and bass, such was the extreme bashing they were taking. He would also take over the microphone informing the audience that we were about to witness a “first ever” for the band: singer/bass player, Satomi Matsuzaki, and guitarist/singer, John Deitrich, would use their respective microphones to sing together. Evidently this is not normally done so it required some crowd preparation.
Follow Us!