Deerhoof

Deerhoof singer Satomi Matsuzaki's ultra-high voice sounds something like what would come out of Wayne Coyne's mouth if he weren't a man. She is by turns Nico-cold and Hello Kitty naive, and her lyrics sound like bizarre, lost-in-the-translation Haiku.

The experimental Bay Area band's repetitive song fragments appear held together with aural Scotch tape: Stream-of-consciousness playing comprising simple but hooky musical notions, raw guitar splinters, stutter-step drumming and staccato vocals make Deerhoof an interesting ear meal.

A critical darling, Deerhoof has continued on even after founding member Rob Fisk left the band a few years back, just as it began to be appreciated by a larger audience. The band doesn't seem to suffer too greatly on its most recent Kill Rock Stars release, Apple O', which brings the listener into a skewed eerie dream world. In this world, lyrical brevity is beauty, exemplified on Apple O' by a particular four-word song. The walking bass foundation of "The Forbidden Fruits" is accented by Matsuzaki's repetition of the absurdist line "Leopard fur no store!"