Daily Iowan

Issue date: 1/23/07 Section: Arts

mp3 samples:

'Deerhoof: +81'
'The Shins: Phantom Limb'

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Album Ratings:

The Shins ***1/2 out of *****
Deerhoof **** out of *****

Wait, do you hear that? It sounds like shattering glass. Ah, yes.

It's the sound of thousands of pairs of eyes popping out of their sockets, sending thick, black-rimmed frames off accompanying noses into the nearest walls. Why, you might ask, would hundreds of Buddy Holly glasses spontaneously and unanimously fly from their owners' faces?

Today at your local record store (and most major chains), two indie-rock/pop superstars, The Shins and Deerhoof, will release highly anticipated records, and everyone wearing polyester pants and Converses are hotfooting down the block for these babies.

Following an appearance on the Garden State soundtrack that earned the band fans and derision from your usual purists, the Shins' new album, Wincing the Night Away, is, for snobbish listeners, the band's chance to make amends. Oddly enough, Deerhoof made an appeal to the middle of the road - well, as close to the yellow line as the members have ever been (which is somewhere in the ditch), on their eighth record, 2005's The Runner's Four, and netted some of the best reviews of their careers, including props from the pillar of indie pretension, Pitchfork.com.

As though The Shins and its label, Sub Pop, met in Dick Cheney's undisclosed location to plot their Garden State rebound, Wincing the Night Away is everything it needs to be. With their third studio album, the New Mexico natives find definite comfort in the studio. The opening track, "Sleeping Lessons," is bookended by random studio noise.

Amid the sound of footsteps scraping up a flight of stairs, a frothy, churning keyboard percolates as lead singer James Mercer's reverb-drenched vocals float in, saying, "Go without / till the need seeps in / you low animal." Mercer, in a few bars, both invites and derides followers, those "low animals," who may have strayed from the flock (or insert your favorite animal-pack name here) and now accepts them back, knowing that the need has "seeped" in. The band is acutely aware of both what is expected of those Garden State converts and Oh, Inverted World hangers-on.

Catchy, synthy tunes such as the single "Phantom Limb" are reinforced, unfortunately, by sing-along approved "Whoa, whoa-ohs" in an agonizing minute's worth of filler - and would have nicely fit along just about any track from the group's previous records. The boys also expand their pop- influence palette: listen for Mercer's impeccable Morrissey impression as the rest of the band effortlessly apes The Smiths. It's downright creepy, even without Mercer posing like a martyr for indie suburbanites. Ultimately, The Shins, yet again, will not change anyone's life, unless the life is just that boring.

Deerhoof, however, may not change your life, but the guys will certainly weird out those with tamer sensibilities, even as they flirt with pop-music convention - and I use the term flirt very loosely. Much was made of, and will be again (trust me), of the more melodic and standard structures Deerhoof favors as of late. For those who've tuned in since the beginning, don't worry. Those members are still embracing their childlike breed of cacophony, relying heavily on Satomi Matsuzaki's youthful coo. The album's single, "+ 81," gives you more of what you've been hungry for: anthematic horns, sly, spindly guitars, and deep philosophical lyrics ("Choo-choo-choo-choo, beep, beep"). Horribly infectious, and disgustingly nuanced, this is Friend Opportunity.

Tracks three and 10, "Believe E.S.P." and "Look Away," provide the biggest surprises. Watch out for - honest warning - the massive strut of "Believe E.S.P." This isn't Deerhoof's take on funk. No, this is real, honest-to-goodness, "I'm-dressed-up-and-I-look-sexy" grandstanding, complete with a high-hat riding drum beat, swanky blues shuffle guitar, and a bouncing bass line. But nothing shocks the listener as much as the sweeping grandiosity of the epic, unexpected, 11-minute and 45-second closing track, "Look Away." Riding waves of feedback and pulsating drums, Matsuzaki sounds downright plaintive.

It's a disturbing end to a normally bouncy and playful Deerhoof record. And it's all the more disturbing to have to wait for what comes next from these sonic forays into Deerhoof's darker side.

E-mail DI music critic John C. Schlotfelt at:
john-schlotfelt@uiowa.edu

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