When Deerhoof released "Fresh Born" as downloadable sheet music, fans had the opportunity to record their own interpretation before hearing the original. It's made for a wide variety of covers — everything from lo-fi pop songs to shrieking noise-rock.
Now that Deerhoof's Offend Maggie is out, "Fresh Born" once again sounds very different in this in-studio performance, recorded at the Gibson Showroom in New York City during the CMJ Music Festival. The performance has a sharper edge, nodding a bit more to the metal leanings hidden throughout Offend Maggie.
Every Deerhoof album is a new experience. Yet, as drummer Greg Saunier jokingly noted to KEXP's Cheryl Waters, "The process is the same: abject failure." That sense of humor comes through in every recording via intricate song structures, whimsical song titles and odd time signatures. Offend Maggie, however, seems like a conscious step into focus. As evidenced in this studio session, the band rocks harder and much more straightforwardly than before, but still takes nerdy jabs at rock tropes like the AC/DC stomp of "The Tears and Music of Love."
Copyright 2008 KEXP
