Sonic Youth Gossip - class albums, atsonicpark edition # 8: deftones

Quote:

Originally Posted by atsonicpark

I think this is one of those bands like the Pixies and the Misfits who seem to bridge cultural gaps.. "indie" kids, "punk" kids, "metal" kids, whatever reserve a special place in their hearts for these types of bands because it's a unifyingly good sound.

Man, Adam would've gotten a real kick outta Deafheaven.

He was right though, Around the Fur is a bonafide classic and often considered the band's best album by people who are super into them. Casual Deftones fans always cite White Pony. Neither are my favorite, I'm much more compelled by their later material, but close. There's not a stinker among their entire discography as far as I'm concerned.

Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) may just be my favorite song of all time. Seriously - what the hell is that effect on that opening guitar riff?! Anyone know? - That, or Cherry Waves, Beauty School, etc. Either way my fav songs are all by Deftones at this point.

I adore Deftones because they're like, "Hey, do you still love nu-metal? What about shoegaze?! Dream pop?! Post metal?! Doom metal?! etc." It's just a mixture of so much of my favorite stuff, and they never get pretentious or anything. That's rare in a band.

Also Chino's side projects are all awesome. Crosses, Team Sleep, Palms... I love how widespread Chino is. The man can sing like nobody I've ever heard. It's so calming, and then he pulls off crazy stuff like this. There's a certain sensuality to his vocals, he's cited that he tries to approach music with a feminine mind-set and it shows. Balance that out with Stephen Carpenter's constant fight to pay tribute to Meshuggah w/ his riffs and you have a very exciting band.

Their next album should be out by spring '19 and I couldn't be more pumped.