Deerhoof Releases Berlin Show As “THE FREE TRIPLE LIVE ALBUM”
Filmed in one shot, the unedited 81-minute video is free to watch with the audio offered as a “name your price” release.
For 30 years, Deerhoof has remained one of the most consistently innovative and all-around intriguing music projects in operation. The quartet has established their range over 17 studio albums, carving their own unique space in the music world, while honing a sound that can only be described as Deerhoof. From experimental noise-punk to the angular quirkiness of art rock, they organically shift from cyclonic fury to the mood-stabilizing tranquility of a pond shimmering next to your picnic blanket. Thunderstorms are summoned and then materialize into rainbows. Driving, frenetic assaults break apart with radiant sunbeams.
Deerhoof is like biting into a creampuff with a grenade in it. Imagine putting fresh fruit and a cinder block into a blender, only to put that blender into a larger blender and letting it whirrrrrr!!!!! Open the lid and pour in some blackberry syrup, a vial of potion, a 9-volt, and a goosehead. Toss in some rainboots, a handful of wildflowers, a cybernetic arm, a busted marionette, and a Go Kart engine. There’s a lot in this thick sweet smoothie – you’re bound to hit a surprise chunk of ginger, here and there, or bite down on the occasional shrapnel from a circuit board.
Deerhoof is a lot of things, which can lend to them being perceived differently by different people. They can compose a politically charged statement for justice, as easily as a whimsical ode to basketball. They make music to dance to maniacally and generate atomizing textures to disintegrate into. You can lurch to a spooky haunted rhythm with intention or wildly release your built-up aggression into a complex, yet aggressive barrage of pummeling math-rock drumming. I honestly wish they were discussed more often for their mind-blowing live shows. The good news is that the band just released a full live performance on YouTube which is free to watch for those of us who have already witnessed their power onstage and all the future converts, alike.
The band announced the new recording with the following message/details:
“Today we release THE FREE TRIPLE LIVE ALBUM in which we play our songs at the legendary Berlin club “SO36,” to a full house that sings and dances along. The 81-minute video is an unedited one-shot of the entire performance. Enjoy!“
They add that, it was “filmed by Beat Halberschmidt on February 7 2024, as he ambled to and fro behind [them] while [they] played.” The audio was recorded by Tobias Lill, with multitracks mixed by drummer, Greg Saunier. For those that want to own the audio, the band is currently offering that option over on their Bandcamp as a “name your price” release.
Adding to the special nature of the event was the opening act, Curse All Kings. The Berlin-based project, which one Bandcamp description refers to as an “anarchist and animist manifesto,” is heavily rooted in concepts of Earth and nature with expansive soundscapes that play like auditory meditations featuring elements of black metal. Most importantly, it is the current project of Deerhoof‘s founder, Rob Fisk, who started the band as an improvisational bass and harmonica solo project in 1994 and played with them until 1999. Fisk‘s set isn’t included in the video footage, but Saunier – the first to join Fisk in Deerhoof a week after its creation – references him before the band begins.
Watch THE FREE TRIPLE LIVE ALBUM in its entirety, below.
TRACKLIST
Paradise Girls
I Will Spite Survive
Scarcity is Manufactured
Fresh Born
L’Amour Stories
Love-Lore 2
No One Asked to Dance
Twin Killers
Plant Thief
My Purple Past
Jet-Black Double-Shield
This Magnificent Bird Will Rise
Sit Down, Let Me Tell You a Story
My Lovely Cat
Momentary Art of Soul!
Milk Man
Black Pitch
Be Unbarred, O Ye Gates of Hell
Damaged Eyes Squinting Into the Beautiful Overhot Sun
Want to catch Deerhoof live?
They’ve announced that they’re “taking this show on the road again momentarily!” by heading to Australia, Switzerland, England, Scotland, and Ireland. More details below
Upcoming Tour dates:
June 12 – Melbourne, VIC – Brunswick Ballroom
June 13 – Sydney, NSW – Machine Hall Precinct
June 14 – Brisbane, QLD – The Zoo
June 15 – Adelaide, SA – Jive
June 16 – Perth, WA – Milk Bar
July 26 – Leysin, CH – Hautes Fréquences
July 27 – Wiltshire, UK – WOMAD
July 28 – Trefusis Estate, UK – Summercamp
July 30 – Falmouth, UK – Cornish Bank
August 1 – Glasgow, UK – Room 2
August 2 – Belfast, IE – Blackbox
August 3 – Dublin, IE – Whelans
tix at deerhoof.website