Deerhoof

See ya never, Blonde Redhead! The top spot for bands made up of one sprightly Asian singer plus two experimentally oriented white guys has been usurped by Northern California spazzers Deerhoof. Last year was Deerhoof's year. Finally, plenty of show-going indie fans caught on to what a few have known for more than a decade: This band is capable of creating rock music that also serves as twisted, curious noise. Many music nerds have been obsessing over Deerhoof, the rare kind of band that unites nearly everyone who's serious about good music. The band members are ingratiated in side projects (one dude left Deerhoof last year to focus on his own thing) and collaborations, among them work with Xiu Xiu, Joanna Newsom, and Danielson Famile, in traditional "in it for the music" fashion. The group has been on Kill Rock Stars since forever, and has been consistently releasing inconsistent records — the music swings from lovely melodies to slightly grating noise-rock, and stops at all points of unusual, unexplored rackets, many of them gorgeous or at least smart and interesting.