Deerhoof

San Francisco's coolest nerds lift Free's "All Right Now" -- note for note, practically -- to open their nine zillionth record here, applying now trademark sugar-sweet vocals and daring you to recognize what they're up to. A perfect ploy, but you can't help wanting singer Satomi Matsuzaki to break off a strutting Paul Rodgers impersonation to go with it all. No matter: Offend Maggie has some of the wind-milling guitar moves that made Reveille so monumental in 2002, and there is bass fuzz galore for folks not so into the quiet parts.

If Dora the Explorer cut an album with Sonic Youth, it might sound like Deerhoof. The
California band has blended Satomi Matsuzaki's little-girl vocals with avant-garde rock
experiments for a decade, but Deerhoof never really broke until they went pop with
2007's Friend Opportunity. Offend Maggie finds the group getting gnarly again, thanks to
new guy Ed Rodriguez, who brings gritty six-string action to tunes like "Buck an... More >