In what is becoming a habit of stunning prolificacy, we find in our hands a new Deerhoof full-length. It seems just yesterday that Reveille, perhaps 2002's best album, was still fresh in the ears of the collective music-listening public, and upon us already is its younger sibling, Apple O'. Since personnel changes within Deerhoof seem to be as frequent as recording sessions, guitarist Chris Cohen has come aboard to join founding members Satomi Matsuzaki (bass, vocals) and Greg Saunier (drums), as well as Deerhoof "veteran" guitarist John Dieterich, who's already got one album under his belt. True to its predecessors, Apple O' continues to showcase the breed of excellence that Deerhoof first fully explored on Holdypaws, their second CD. The rambling pop melodies, jarring clatter of drums, and unpredictable rhythms are all there; Matsuzaki's tiny sing-song vocals and the sheer fun of it all are omnipresent throughout. And though the disc finds Deerhoof continuing to mine the land they've been working on for the past few years, they don't fail to dig new bounty from the soil. Acoustic guitars are more prevalent than ever before, and there's a rollicking energy that the disc often exudes reminiscent of the pioneers of early rock 'n' roll. The experimentation with electronics that debuted on Reveille continues, though not in exactly the same way, as samples become more prevalent, even, at times, making up a song's total construction. I'm unsure of Chris Cohen's pedigree, but I'd guess it lies in more traditional rock waters, as his addition to the group lends, at times, a much more simple and linear indie/punk rock tone that has been present on Deerhoof's last few releases. Though not entirely distasteful or forgettable, Cohen's work isn't always as good as the stringy, punchy accentuation he sometimes expertly adds to Dieterich's deeper, more gravelly tone, such as in "Flower." The disc's slower, more sweeping pieces rarely suffer, but the uptempo rock of Apple O' is sometimes gentrified in a small way by Cohen's guitar. Though with Cohen in the mix, Dieterich's guitar isn't as wonderfully bombastic as it was on Reveille, he continues to make original guitarist Rob Fisk's departure from the group much easier to bear.
It's a testament to their talent that Apple O' is perhaps my least favorite of the band's last four full-length albums, but that it still gets such a high rating (I'd henceforth, after further review, like to re-calibrate my internal rating system and change the 10 I gave to Halfbird a few months ago on these e-pages to an 11... I'm the writer, I can do that), and could easily finish close to the top of my list of the year's best albums. How lucky for us that a band with such prodigious music-writing aplomb is also a band with such a constantly growing discography. If you're still a Deerhoof virgin, do yourself a favor and taste this forbidden fruit. If you've been partaking of these sensual pleasures all along, open wide for a new serving of love, Deerhoof style.
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