Spirit ditties of no tone

Play it: Deerhoof The Runners Four
Stream it: The Runners Four ecard

So it appears while I was on vacation, Rhapsody did some catching up and dropped Deerhoof's The Runners Four on us (a week late.) Everyone's already gushed all over this one, but let me just add that if you've tried to get into Deerhoof before and just found it too... scatterbrained, give this one a shot. Like Animal Collective's latest, this one is a bit more refined and accessible, while still crazy as hell. Their seventh release finds the childrens' book-like imagery of vocalist/bassist Satomi Matsuzaki is still there, but the structures around her endearing vocals are a tad bit more reigned in, making for a more coherent (yet still chaotic) experience. Just check out "Running Thoughts" or "O'Malley, Former Underdog" to get my gist.

Some may long for the f*ckedupness of Reveille, but underlying this album is still the unrestrained ambition of that release, it's just honed in a bit, and in my opinion, it's for the best. The lineup has revolved a lot prior to the past couple releases, and while their last two (Milk Man and the Green Cosmos EP) sounded more structured, they were a tad silly... here, though, I think they're finally getting it figured out. It's not a contender for album of the year (IMHO,) but it certainly points to a future (the next?) release being the one that cracks the earth, and sucks us all in.... and I, for one, can't wait.

tags: playlist, music, deerhoof