• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Dec 30, 2015 Web Exclusive By Nate Rogers

Somehow able to continuously skate the cliff of insanity for extended periods of time without falling, Deerhoof is a true pearl of progressive rock (while still holding off on the proggy bullshit, thank God). And coming off like a really pissed off version of Can, the sound of the band onstage is unmistakable—blistering, abstract, pummeling, fun! Fever 121614, Live in Japan is a more than welcome artifact of Deerhoof’s contemporary live show (unbelievably, the San Francisco group has been around for more than 20 years now), and is every bit as weird and compelling as it should be.

Fast, daring versions of “Dummy Discards a Heart” and “We Do Parties” rival the quality of their studio equivalents, and dreamy takes (relatively speaking) of “Twin Killers” and “Paradise Girls” serve as a reminder of the band’s immense melodic talent-distortion cranked or not. Really, the biggest downside of this album is that it will simply leave you disappointed that you were not there. Arigato; may I have another? (www.deerhoof.net)

Author rating: 7.5/10