Deerhoof / My Disco

Andy J Ryan Mar 26, 2023

Deerhoof - Factory Theatre, 3 April 2007

Deerhoof return to Australia after touring as the hand-picked supports for the Flaming Lips and Radiohead with one less member but one more album, Friend Opportunity.†

Support act My Disco! combines the moves of the drinking bird toy with the rhythmic turmoil of Rage Against the Machine, except without as much to say. You are more berated by their music than actually listening to it. "They have a formula" was one description I heard, but well, I was never very good at maths.

You often hear of bands busting to get out trying to make it overseas or trying to break America. Less often you hear of bands that find such an appreciatively attuned audience for their music in Australia that they couldn't wait to come back. This is the case with Deerhoof. Last time they were in Sydney they played in an inner-city town hall, this time they fairly filled the Factory Theatre with a cheerily devoted crowd.

From the outset Deerhoof simply radiated delight. The diminutive Satomi Matsuzaki has an intoxicatingly cute voice, performing oh-so-endearing jigs and pixie-esque (mythical fairy kind, not Boston band kind) dancing. At the other end of the stage is a beaming blur of limbs: John Dieterich on drums. In the middle, guitarist Greg Saunier's face is etched in equal parts awe and enjoyment as he reels off sublime searing riffs. The strength of Deerhoof is the unique and intuitive musicianship and influence each bring to the band.

Their playing has almost jazz-like principles to it in the way their songs can evolve as each member's contribution floats to the fore or recedes supportingly. Far be it from the band being more stripped back in their three-piece incarnation, it is more the case that less is more.

The songs brim with a spontaneous exuberance as one or the other ride some musical tangent whichever way it takes them while the others keep up. Individualism and intuitiveness are all anchored by that beautifully delicate angelic voice.
It all ends far too soon; it took less than an hour to turn me from curious onlooker to fervent fan. The punters' faces told it all, their unanimously smiling faces a testament to a sublime and endless charm that was Deerhoof. (www.yourgigs.com.au review)