Deerhoof

Friend Opportunity (Kill Rock Stars)

By Joel Cusumano
Published: January 22nd, 2007 | 4:56pm

"Meet me, meet me / Over the mountain / Meet me, meet me / Over the ocean / Cry out, cry out," calls Deerhoof singer/bassist Satomi Matsuzaki on the dizzying chorus of Friend Opportunity's opener, "The Perfect Me." The song is a propulsive, polyrhythmic punch in the gut; a mutant garage/hipster-disco hybrid that's everything an opening track should be: fun, catchy, and immediate. In fact, it's so good that it makes the rest of the album a snooze in comparison.

It's not that it sets the bar so high that nothing could possibly exceed it. I imagine Deerhoof could probably write songs like "The Perfect Me" in their sleep, or at least between MySpace updates. They've already written plenty; songs that are scattered across better albums such as Reveille or 2005's Green Cosmos EP. It's just that the rest of the songs on Friend Opportunity feel like Deerhoof just doing their thing. That is, not pushing their thing to the next level, peppering their thing with Afrobeat and one-drop hits, or taking their thing out for ice cream and pony rides on its birthday.

Take the seventh track, "Cast Off Crown," which starts with revved-up power chords and glitchy organ runs that segue to a dreary stop/start section in the middle. The abrupt rhythmic and dynamic twists that listeners have come to expect from Deerhoof are, well, there as expected, but little else is. Newcomers might still perk their ears to
a song like "+81," with its false-start marching band intro, or "The Galaxist," half of which is one of the most graceful tunes the band's ever written. But to the rest of us the band is getting a bit too familiar. That, I would expect, is something to which Deerhoof does not endeavor.

Given the typical nature of the fare on Friend Opportunity, a few songs (other than "The Perfect Me") are still worthy additions to the band's oeuvre. "Believe E.S.P." is built on a deep groove that at once recalls '70s funk and Japanese pop though, like most of their songs, it might as well be called "President Cleveland's Sideburns," because of the indistinguishable nature of Matsuzaki's vocals. And, near Friend Opportunity's end, "Matchbook Seeks Maniac" is a bittersweet near-ballad lifted by warm, overfed organ chords.

And let's just pretend that "Matchbook" is the last track, because the actual closer is a tedious, 11-minute plus dirge, the kind of thing that, don't get me wrong, is probably really fun and therapeutic to tool with in a studio setting, but is painfully dull for anyone not actually making the music. The length of the track cuts into the amount of songs on the album; there's 10 here compared to 20 on 2005's The Runners Four. Either way, Deerhoof's sweet 'n spazzy clatter is best enjoyed in two- to three-minute cuts. Friend Opportunity doesn't offer anything new in that area, but, for the most part, knows enough to stay grounded.