by Cole Makuch
Hearing Deerhoof for the first time reminds you why you bother liking music in the first place. They possess all the attributes of a great band: killer musicianship, interesting and diverse influences, compelling songwriting, and most importantly, a chemistry that makes the four of them in a room better than the sum of their individual musical contributions. The versions of the songs on Devil Kids— a live album constructed from the audio captured by the four camera mics of a December basement-livestream— are energetic, matured, dare-I-say improved (in the way songs are after sitting with a band for years) versions of studio recordings with the palpable energy of a group that just loves playing together.
The performance marks the first time Deerhoof played in the same room since the start of the pandemic, over which time they had continued recording music asynchronously (“Plant Thief” and “Be Unbarred, O Ye Gates of Hell” are tracks from their most recent studio album), and features songs spanning the band’s entire prolific twenty-plus year history. The mixes sound ear-splittingly loud, like you’re in guitarist Ed Rodriguez’s basement too, with enough definition for each instrument to stand out. The included backtalk is a further-immersive window into band dynamics.
On band dynamics: few groups of people, let alone musicians, have the collective power to inspire true awe. These four—with the support of a few strung planks of wood, wire, and some stretched drumheads and sticks to hit them with—somehow, can. Welcome back together, Deerhoof.