Deerhoof - My Pal Foot Foot

Deerhoof just announced via Facebook that they have recorded a four-song session for Daytrotter, which you can download for free here. This has put me in fine mood for listening to some old Deerhoof records. I've got a few that I've had for years, but not gotten around to playing, so let's try...



...Uh-oh. Deerhoof covering the Shaggs. Already having a tendency to go off into tuneless but twee meanderings, Deerhoof, unfettered of any noise or alt.rock bent, could be about to deliver the ultimate in cutesy pain to my ears.

Well, Deerhoof's 'My Pal Foot Foot' is pretty much unlistenable. No tune, rhythm, meter, just Satomi drivelling on and on about 'Foot Foot' over some sporadic drum beats, scratchy gee-tar and splodgey synth sounds. It's got a charm of it's own, though, with Satomi breaking out into a laugh at the end of the song. Seems like the band are just having some fun, but it sounds like they must have totally deconstructed the original. Right? I am familiar with the Shaggs, and I know this is their most notorious song, although I've never actually had the pleasure of...

...Egad. Just listened to it on YouTube. I can't believe that's from 1969, since it sounds a lot like the sort of stuff you might hear on a Kill Rocks Stars compilation. Now, I'm all for indie-pop. I love Beat Happening. Daniel Johnston is good by me. I value creativity and expression of ideas and feelings above technical prowess. Yet while this song made me smile, its atonality rivaled Merzbow for most grating sounds ever thrust upon this listener's brain. But you know what? I kind of liked it.



Now, YouTube is typically a dumping ground for some of the most uninformed, ludicrous, aggressive and downright banal comments, so while I am loathe to reproduce any quotes from there I feel this gent has summed up the general consensus in rather an astute manner:

"Foot Foot probably died after listening to this pile of aural excrement."

A bit harsh, but then certainly more considered than some of the other comments, which would make a fishwife blush.

There's plenty of people bleating about how amazing this music is in its naivety and authenticity of expression, but what these people fail to acknowledge in their nice, little, tied-up-with-a-bow world is that the girls didn't want to be writing or playing this music and were only forced into it by their domineering and pushy father; confirmed by the fact that they didn't break up until the day he died. This isn't the sound of freedom and innocence - it's the sound of untalented musicians trying to make music with a gun to their head. I suppose that's also some of the appeal; although it is outwardly friendly, sincere, child-like etc. it is also unsettling, awkward and so in some ways, dark.

Anyway, I should be gassing on about the Deerhoof version and having now heard the original I can see where they're coming from. It's actually a fairly faithful cover and it's the Shaggs and not Deerhoof that are responsible for the weirdness that is 'My Pal Foot Foot'. Makes you wonder why they bothered? Probably because it was originally commissioned for a Shaggs tribute album, Better Than the Beatles.

Some people may be underwhelmed by the artwork, but I quite like the hand-made look. It's just a plain red sleeve with 'DEERHOOF MY PAL FOOT FOOT' hand stamped on, with the song titles upside side and backwards ("TOOF TOOF LAP YM," anyone?) The label has some drawings of geometric shapes and what-not and that, sirs, is it.



The B-sides are 'Sunny Forty Fours' and 'Aho-Bomb'. 'Sunny Forty Fours' is a lush guitar-driven track with flute accompaniment, leading to occasional electronic and keyboard embellishments before the songs cascades away. 'Aho-Bomb' starts with a repeating chiming guitar refrain and slowly builds in sound and atmosphere, before it bursts into a blast of bassy, all-out rock. Pretty cool and certainly the best track on the single.

Either song sounds like it would fit nicely on the Reveille album (in fact, I think they may be bonus tracks on the Japanese version). Other than that, I believe that this is the only place to get both songs, and would make for a nice addition to your stack of Deerhoof LPs.

(Edit: Turns out 'Aho-Bomb' was included on the 2006 download-only E.P. +81. Damn these downloads).

Pavement - Carrot Rope

I'm not sure what informed my decision to buy this record as at the time I wasn't really familiar with Pavement. I think that somewhere in the back of my head I had a vague concept that Pavement were a 'good' band and that to purchase a single of theirs on vinyl was a 'good' thing to do - I was, after all, supporting an obscure and independent and alternative band on a marginal format (as opposed to buying the CDs) and therefore some greater god of indie-rock would see to it that my 99p investment would be rewarded with at least 3 minutes of musical pleasure.* Of course, I had no idea of quite how big the band really were or anything of their previous output, so I think it was a pretty good punt.

*Actually, thinking about it, I already knew and quite liked the song 'Shady Lane' as I think I had seen it on The O-zone (remember that show?) or something and that guided me in 1999 to buy 'Carrot Rope' on one of my trawls through the new release singles box in my local independent record shop.

I love the song 'Carrot Rope'; breezy, poppy, just odd enough to be interesting and it has that rose-tinted sound that makes you believe it could have been the soundtrack to your parents' old super-8 summer home movies. It's in contrast to most of the darker material on the Terror Twilight album.

Ten years on, I'm just watching the video for the first time and it's actually pretty annoying. Here it is anyway:

The song reminds me a lot less of earlier Fall-influenced indie-rock Pavement and far more of the sort of stuff on Stephen Malkmus' eponymous debut album, so at the time this would have been a pointer as to the direction he was going in, with Pavement playing their final show later that year (Brixton Academy, London Nov 20th 1999).

Like the music contained within, the record sleeve can't fail to raise a smile. Silly, yes, but also intriguing, the image of what we can safely assume to be a carrot rope makes me wonder whether it was commissioned for the single or if someone in the Domino art department opportunistically came across it and had a Eureka moment ("That's it! That, my friends, is a Carrot Rope!)

The B-side is 'And Then...’ which is an edited early version of 'The Hexx' from Terror Twilight. The song is dark and brooding Pavement at their best and makes a great counterpart to 'Carrot Rope'. It was recorded for 1997's Brighten the Corners, but left off that album for whatever reason. At a time when a lot of singles were released on two CDs and a 7", with the vinyl B-side being one of the CD bonus tracks, it was cool that the 'Carrot Rope' 7" got its own B-side, as 'And Then...' wasn't on either of the two CDs. Nice touch. The only other place you could hear it was on the B-side of the American 'Spit on a Stranger' 7". The track has since been compiled onto Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition with all the other contemporaneous demos, B-sides, and sessions etc. There was also a version included on Pavment's recent Record Store Day release: a live album of a concert in Germany from 1997. Good luck getting one of those outside of the USA!

Well, this is a great single, representing the two sides of the Pavement coin. It appears to still be in print, and you can get one here.

Deerhoof - The Perfect Me

Cool! A picture disc. Let’s take this out of the sleeve and give it a OHMYGODWHATTHEFUCKISTHAT!? Is it the famed ‘Beast with Two Backs’ that everyone at uni spoke of seeing at parties, while I was staying in and alphabeticising my CD collection? Whatever it is, ATP and Deerhoof went to great lengths to ensure the strengths of the picture disc format were fully exploited by asking the awesome David Shrigley to provide the artwork. Deerhoof have a history of working with cutting edge illustrators (teaming with Ken Kagami during the Milk Man period and, more recently, Tomoo Gokita for 2008’s Offend Maggie) and roped in Shrigley to create the Friend Opportunity artwork (of which there are apparently twelve variations on the cover sleeve).



‘The Perfect Me’ was the first taste of that album and displayed the poptastic heights Friend Opportunity would scale. Although instantly catchy and memorable, there is enough off-kilter stuff going on to keep you coming back play after play. The angular guitar squall and free improvisation of their earliest releases have all but been eradicated, replaced with keyboards, Satomi’s endearing childlike vocals and an emphasis on melody. However, bat-shit crazy drummer Greg Saunier brings spasmodic rhythms and there are more time-signature shifts than you can shake a metronome at. Throw in some satisfyingly crunchy guitar playing and you have something that is certainly not your ordinary pop song. It’s as if there about five songs all in one here, though not in a ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ kind of way – it’s all going on at once, which is probably what makes the song so exciting. Overall, the whole thing is just a gloriously free-willed, spirited, uplifting, unique and downright fun track to listen to.



What with this single coming out at the tail end of 2006, the B-side is the semi-seasonal ‘The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill Continuing into The Little Drummer Boy.’ Having gushed all over the A-side, I couldn’t wait to hear a similar treatment of The Beatles’ ‘Bungalow Bill,’ but as with many Deerhoof covers I was left a little disappointed. Deerhoof exercise their more experimental sensibilities and produce a fairly sparse and strangely calypso-flavoured version. Quite nice, but somewhat slight. The same can be said of ‘The Little Drummer Boy,’ which is a fairly faithful rendition, all sweet and twinkly and chiming; but it’s over almost as soon as it begins.

Well, there were only 350 copies of this released, so if you want one it’ll probably cost you a pretty penny now. Personally, I’d recommend saving the money and getting yourself a copy of Friend Opportunity and The Beatles’ White Album instead!