Deerhoof – Fever 121614

Live and Energized

“Exit Only” is a blistering first track on Deerhoof’s live album, Fever 121614. Recorded during the group’s 2014 tour in Japan, the album captures a breadth of their work, sampling popular songs from several of Deerhoof’s albums. As an opening track, “Exit Only” is short and speedy; one can imagine it energizing a live audience with its rapid-fire guitar riffs and pitchy lyrics.

Next up, “Paradise Girls” is equally energetic but with a vastly different vibe. It has a a very rigid, and almost oriental instrumental undertone, contrasted slightly with playful, free-flowing vocals. The album then moves to “Let’s Dance the Jet,” an instrumental, followed by the slightly eerie-sounding “Doom,” which nonetheless maintains the group’s signature style with minimalistic guitar and a high-energy vibe. It also incorporates another signature feature, which is unconventional, repetitive vocals from lead singer Satomi Matsuzaki. The tone slows and the vocals soften a bit with “Fresh Born,” which then flows seamlessly into a similar track, “We Do Parties.” The group then shifts gears with a different song, “Buck and Judy,” which has a relaxed tempo. It’s gentle, rhythmic opening gives way to dissonant clattering and creepy lyrics, creating an overall unique effect.

The group has a continuously high-energy, clashing sound that incorporates noise and diverse musical elements, but the track “I Did Crimes for You” stands a bit apart. While the quirky vocals are in keeping with other tracks, the mild instrumentation has an overtly playful vibe, producing a humorous contrast to the pervasive chorus, “This is a stick-up.”

The album culminates in the jarringly fun, brief track, “Come See the Duck.” This short song is quirky and nicely combines a few of the group’s salient facets, including their focus on repetitive sounds and vocals, elements of noise, and carefree playfulness. As a result, it gives a succinct conclusion to Fever 121614, summarizing Deerhoof’s chief characteristics in the span of less than two minutes and closing the show.