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Indie experimentalists Deerhoof return to Great American Music Hall

SAN FRANCISCO -- Longtime standard-bearers for the avant-weird fringe of San Francisco's vibrant indie-rock scene, veteran band Deerhoof returns to the Great American Music Hall for a hometown gig Monday night.

Formed nearly three decades ago when drummer Greg Saunier and bassist/guitarist Rob Fisk started collaborating as a freewheeling improvisational duo in 1994. Recording early material with a simple four-track machine, they started churning out singles that touched on everything from grungy punk to abstract noise with an occasional ballad.

Deerhoof
Deerhoof

The following year marked a seismic change for the band when Tokyo native Satomi Matsuzaki joined Deerhoof shortly after arriving in San Francisco. Despite her complete lack of band experience, the film student would front the group as their singer a week later as Deerhoof toured as the opening act for fellow SF experimental heroes Caroliner.

Polly Bee by Deerhoof - Topic on YouTube

Matsuzaki's childlike voice and knack for singsong, nursery rhyme-style melodies would become a focal point for the band on their proper debut album The Man the King the Girl in 1997. The band's instrumentation would shift with the addition of keyboard player Kelly Goode and Matsuzaki picking up bass, with their lo-fi recordings and powerful stage shows building a formidable reputation that led to tours with such cutting edge acts as Sleater-Kinney, Lightning Bolt and Sonic Youth.

By the turn of the millennium, Deerhoof had earned its place as one of the most fearless bands on the indie-rock scene, Bay Area or otherwise. Fisk and Goode departed in 1999, but the addition of guitarist John Dieterich led the group into an ever-widening exploration of electronics and dismantling the pop song form with their often brief tunes (with many landing in the neighborhood of 60-to-90 seconds) on the acclaimed efforts Reveille, Apple O' and The Runners Four that became some of the most lauded indie-rock albums of the decade.

Deerhoof - Fresh Born - Juan's Basement by Pitchfork on YouTube

Despite their tendency to change styles, languages (2005's Green Cosmos found Matsuzaki singing in her native tongue) and even who plays what instrument with each successive album, Deerhoof's trademark gift for playful melodies and sonic reinvention has made their prodigious output of recorded material -- not to mention the members' many side projects and constant collaborative work as players, producers and remixers -- one of the more extraordinary bodies of work by a modern rock band.

Their 2017 release Mountain Moves continued Deerhoof's remarkable streak of excellence with a recording that mixes the band's knack for sugary hooks with more outre experimentation. The album featuring wide-ranging collaborators as Argentine folktronica singer Juana Molina, former Stereoloab member and solo artist Laetitia Sadier, Wye Oak's Jenn Wasner and noted avant-garde saxophonist Matana Roberts. 

Deerhoof - I Will Spite Survive (Official Video) by Joyful Noise Recordings on YouTube

While the group was unable to tour to promote its 2020 album Future Teenage Cave Artist due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Deerhoof made the best of the shutdown. The group released a pair of live recordings -- a show that included an onstage collaboration with noted NYC trumpet player Wadada Leo Smith and a streamed concert from last year issued as Devil Kids -- and the mash-up experiment Love Lore that features medleys of tunes by such varied inspirations as Ornette Coleman, Voivod, Gary Numan, Silver Apples, the Beach Boys, Ennio Morricone and a laundry list of avant-garde composers in addition to their 2021 collection of original material, Actually, You Can. In March, the group released its 19th album Miracle-Level. In addition to being the band's first recording to made entirely in a proper studio, it also marks the first time Matsuzaki has sung an entire record in her native Japanese.

Deerhoof played its first San Francisco concert since 2017 last fall as part of the Great American Music Hall's 50th anniversary celebration. The band returns to the venue Monday night to play this show co-presented with local promoter Talent Moat, offering up new material and fan favorites from throughout their storied career. Rising Oakland post-punk quartet Fake Fruit -- who released their acclaimed debut album in 2021 -- offer up their bracing, danceable anthems in support. SF noise-punk crew Simulation opens the show.

Deerhoof
Monday, May 8, 7 p.m. $25
Great American Music Hall

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