by Emma Bauchner (@EmBauch)
Normally after releasing an album—particularly one as outstanding as Future Teenage Cave Artists—a band like Deerhoof would be playing sold-out shows across the country. Once Covid-19 hit, touring had to be put on hold, and because of our disastrous handling of the pandemic, it doesn’t look like it will be returning any time soon. The irreplaceable experience of live music may be gone for the time being, but that doesn’t mean artists and bands aren’t finding creative ways to adapt to unfortunate circumstances. The aptly titled To Be Surrounded By Beautiful, Curious, Breathing, Laughing Flesh Is Enough, which takes its title from the Walt Whitman poem “I Sing the Body Electric,” feels like a gift to everyone currently missing the energy of live performance. The album’s eleven tracks not only capture the excitement of a top-notch band bringing some of their most beloved songs to life, but also that of organic collaboration: the album’s final five tracks are taken from Deerhoof’s 2018 Winter Jazz Fest set at Le Poisson Rouge with legendary avant-jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith.
Beyond Deerhoof’s raw, energetic live sound, one of the things that’s most apparent when listening to To Be Surrounded By Beautiful, Curious, Breathing, Laughing Flesh Is Enough is how fresh and unique they have sounded at every point in their career. Song selections range from tracks off of 1997’s The Man, The King, The Girl to 2009’s Offend Maggie to 2017’s Mountain Moves, all demonstrating why Deerhoof has been such an enduring band. Over their twenty-plus years of existence, they’ve honed their winning combination of Greg Saunier’s innovative drumming, John Dieterich’s and Ed Rodriguez’s clamorous guitars, and Satomi Matsuzaki’s idiosyncratic vocals; the resulting sound varies from noise-pop brilliance to joyfully frenetic chaos, often in the same song. Newcomers and longtime fans alike will find plenty to appreciate in the album’s first half, particularly the lively renditions of “Believe E.S.P.,” “Chandelier Searchlight,” and “I Will Spite Survive.”
What makes this album different from all other Deerhoof albums is the presence of Wadada Leo Smith, a master trumpeter, composer, and improviser. Deerhoof’s individual members have dipped their feet into the jazz world on more than one occasion, but their set with Smith on the album’s second half opens up their catalogue as a band in new ways, creating something truly special. Smith’s abstract, colorful trumpet playing seems to let the whole band’s improvisational instincts loose; all five musicians play off of each other, maintaining a playful, exploratory energy throughout. After warming up with an instrumental rendition of “Snoopy Waves,” they launch into a deconstructed, exuberant take on one of their classics, “Breakup Songs,” on which Smith’s fluttering phrases takes the lead. “Flower,” is used as a sort-of boisterous interlude into “Last Fad,” an eight-minute jam that allows the band to musically stretch out, exploring a wide range of sonic territory. To wind things down, “Mirror Monster” ends with a touching duet between Smith and Matsuzaki.
“Part of what makes touring life so great was how unpredictable it is. All the unexpected encounters, promoters and audiences and performers willing to take a risk. That's what playing together with Wadada was for us,” says Saunier on the album’s Bandcamp page (where it is exclusively available for streaming and download; all proceeds are being donated to Black Lives Matter). Touring life may feel like a thing of the distant past, but we’re lucky that moments of these risks and unexpected encounters have been recorded. Until we can go to shows again, at least we have them to cherish and relive.