DEERHOOF

Though Deerhoof long ago established itself as one of the greatest rock groups ever to stride the earth, the furiously inventive quartet releases new albums on the schedule of a young band still hungry for its first break. Their latest album Noble and Godlike in Ruin is either a portrait of a world descending into monstrous hate, dehumanization, and dollar signs, or a haunting self-portrait of band-as-monster, singing tirelessly of love, increasingly alienated from that world. Songs crash and break apart, then reassemble in surprising and delightful new fashion; the music is joyful and foreboding, cybernetic and deeply human all at once. The world may be going down, but Deerhoof is going down swinging.