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RE: Deerhoof
I'm glad you mentioned Reveille, Symbols, as a must have record in the same vein as Lightning Bolt. It's hard to believe that Deerhof hasn't been a huge part of everyone's life for the past 18 years, but hey, if there's anyone out there who's still unfamiliar, I've got good news and bad news:
First the bad news... They have been making the same exact album for at least 4 years. It's a good album. It's tried and true wackadoo indie-noise-pop, and it's worth buying every time they put it back on the shelf, but I'm afraid their groundbreaking/glass ceiling shattering days are quite over.
I guess what I'm saying is -- correct me if you think I'm wrong, anyone-- that the band's recent records like La Isla Bonita (2014), Breakup Song (2012), and Deerhoof Vs. Evil (2011) all find the band pretty much settling into the same comfortable (if still highly enjoyable) niche. Funky grooves, pretty vocals interrupted by occasional trebly blasts of distortion and vampy synths.
Before that, they may have been the most likely contender for "Pixies of the 00's"... I think they originally had the potential to be the Sonic Youth of the 00's, but after Reveille, Runner's Four, and Apple O they lost some of their experimental bite.
Reveille is the best album and damned if it doesn't sound like Lightning Bolt, or a Total Bugs Bunny on Wild Bass-era Hella, if those bands were fronted by a chick. It's definitely got a manic, math-rock feel to it. It's heavy as hell, it's noisy, it's informed by Gastr Del Sol and Unwound, and it fell somewhere close to Black Dice, Xiu Xiu and early Animal Collective in the indie rock family tree of the era.
Their last great album was Offend Maggie (2008), and Friend Opportunity (2007), but by those albums they'd shifted to a more poppy, less ferocious focus.
I actually think my favorite song of theirs is "The Galaxist" from Friend Opportunity. It's got a spaciness to it that I wish they'd tap into more often.
In truth, they've aged better than Animal Collective, who I can't really listen to anymore. But I definitely think their best years are behind them. I actually thought Blonde Redhead's 2014 record Barragán was a better late career release than La Isla Bonita. And I lost interest in BR a while ago. I never expected to put them above Deerhoof, but in 2014/2015, they're totally the better band.
However, all of their albums are still totally worth hearing. They're even all worth buying. They're a great band. I just saw them last summer. Got a signed Reveille LP and a hell of a show for my trouble.
I consider them one of the definitive indie bands of the post-Pavement/Sebadoh/Built to Spill era. I know the landscape was completely different in the 2000-2010 and beyond era than it was in the '90s, but Deerhoof were one of the top tier bands of that period. Along with Spoon, Dirty Projectors, Liars and countless other notables who could have been much bigger than they ever became.
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I started this post yesterday, and with my luck this discussion will have completely moved past all discussion of Deerhoof and Lightning Bolt and .... Pelican? Who threw Pelican in there? They were part of an entirely different scene, from all I can recall. I've always liked them a lot.... Forever Becoming was an album I meant to buy but never did until long after 2013, and if I hadn't slept on it it would have been one of my choice records for that year.
But Pelican is born of something wholly unrelated to the 5RC & Kill Rock Stars scene that Deerhoof and their brethren came from. I think of them as something closer to Giant Squid, or even WITTR... pretty straight ahead metal, with the control of Volta Del Mar... maybe Russian Circles... or even Tarantula Hawk.
(???)
Man. So many memories.
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