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I adore this band, and it all is because of Herr Biznono. I have to admit, I was reluctant at first because their constituent parts (cheap guitars playing in unison, a goofy drummer that plays jagged rhythms that seem to fall apart at random times, a female Japanese bass player that sings about bunnies and pandas when she bothers to sing words at all, general "artiness") have historically been the makeup of some of the world's most annoying music.

After loving the records for many months, when I finally saw them, I felt almost like I was seeing Black Flag for the first time -- it was that powerful and exciting.

mb

Black Dice and Deerhoof almost played together during BD's most recent tour. It would have happened if the crotchety booker at SF's Bottom Of The Hill wouldn't have arbitrarily taken Deerhoof off the bill and replaced them with 3 bands that had little or no compatibility with BD. Then I tried to book them together in Sacramento the next night but BD chose to skip Sac.

Shutting up now.

Deerhoof is very not crap, which is not to say that they've mis-stepped at times because they have. But at least they are always trying.

The Pacific Northwest comparisons are pretty inaccurate they are a bay area band true and true.

-C.

i guess i'm the lone abstainee from liking deerhoof. i saw them at atp in LA two years ago and i sincerely couldn't tell if it was supposed to be a joke. the guitarist broke a string during one of his (what seemed to me) angular 101 riffs and ran off in a huff, leaving the rest of the band to improvise over a two note casio riff wherein the singer just side-stepped back and forth for six or seven minutes. i haven't really given them a chance since then, maybe they've gotten better, i don't know for sure.

It really shouldn't matter if Deerhoof treats their audience badly. It wouldn't make their songs any better. It certainly doesn't save the played out performance art shit that Black Dice does. Am I supposed to care what they do because they change their sound from shit to worse? Wow, this hardcore band isn't playing hardcore. That makes every noise they make interesting. And it wouldn't make Unwound or godheadsilo any better if they were on Touch and Go. Unwound and godheadsilo just lent credibility to their label in a time when it was needed. Kill Rock Stars certainly has some questionable acts today. They have even resorted to signing a Dallas area band which is almost never good for business. I can watch shitty bands throw things at the audience almost any night of the week if I go to the right club, warehouse or house show. But when does a band actually improve exponentially over time and make a record like Apple-O? The bottles would just get in the way of that power washing over the audience.

anon wrote:Kill Rock Stars certainly has some questionable acts today. They have even resorted to signing a Dallas area band which is almost never good for business.

Like when Trance signed Bedhead?

mb

tell em matt!

ahem, never mind the fact that it is actually my band from dallas they "signed"....dallas may suck but that kind of comment is nonsense no matter what city you are talking about.

but i'm not offended at the same time, strange. probably since your from dallas, anon...we have that power i suppose.

Trance and Bedhead. Yeah, that kind of thing doesn't really happen in Texas anymore. Dallas is widely known for its lack of quality. It was voted "most insignificant music scene for a major metropolitan area" by Chunklet magazine. And rightly so. No offense, Congleton. I just have never liked your band. It's nothing personal. Some of my friends do. I doubt you care whether or not your liked locally. Any band worth a damn from Dallas in the last ten or so years isn't on any label. That's a shame. I don't blame the bands entirely and I do at the same time. They should have toured as much as your band has and maybe we wouldn't be so shit on. The only thing to escape from Dallas is the shit. Shit is popular if you haven't noticed. From Centromatic to the Secret Machines to just about anything from this fucking state that has done anything nationally is the bottom of the barrel. I hope it changes. Bedhead and Stickmen with Rayguns are the two screaming exceptions in Dallas music history since 1980. They are of a different quality that I've never seen even close to being equalled around here. Why does it suck so bad?

first off no offense taken in the slightest. i could give a rats cock if you like my band. i am and will always be a hobby musician and have no desire to please anyone but myself when it comes to my music. i sort of enjoy it when people hate my music to be honest. but my point is i have no loyalty to any scene especially a low rent white trash one like dallas. HOWEVER judging from your posts ill be willing to bet you have never been on tour with a band and played all the other shitholes with the opening locals you get stuck with around the world. i've personally done it more times than i can remember and dallas is hardly the worst, top 30 worst, maybe.

so i must be behind the times, what bands are from the area that im missing and arent getting fair exposure?

anon wrote:Trance and Bedhead. Yeah, that kind of thing doesn't really happen in Texas anymore. Dallas is widely known for its lack of quality. It was voted "most insignificant music scene for a major metropolitan area" by Chunklet magazine. And rightly so.

I don't disagree, but as much as I love the zine, I also wouldn't cite Chunklet as a reference in an argument any more than I'd use a quote from Mad magazine in a discussion of US policy in West Africa.

Dallas is a bad place to be a musician because there really aren't any clubs worth a shit -- they're either run by frat boys or bidnessmen, and none of them have any desire to support interesting music. (Atlanta (near Chunklet's hometown) isn't too far removed from Dallas in that regard, either.) Now Dallas is at a point where there is no worthwhile music venue, no worthwhile music press, no radio, and no worthwhile record store -- of course it's gonna suck to be here.

This has fostered a culture of "local music first" in Dallas -- most bands have no knowledge of or interest in the larger independent music community, outside of the occaisional breakout band, and this is why Henry labeled Dallas the way he did.

No offense, Congleton. I just have never liked your band. It's nothing personal. Some of my friends do. I doubt you care whether or not your liked locally. Any band worth a damn from Dallas in the last ten or so years isn't on any label. That's a shame.

Ok, name some of these Dallas bands that are worth a damn that don't have a label. We can at least then figure out what constitues a decent band in your eyes, because I can name as many, if not more, bands from Denton/Dallas that are on some kind of label right now as I can bands from Austin and Houston.

I don't blame the bands entirely and I do at the same time. They should have toured as much as your band has and maybe we wouldn't be so shit on.

That's an ignorant statement. I know bands (from all over) that toured 9+ months a year and never sold more than a couple thousand records. Maybe if some of the kids from Plano would take some of their parent's money and business acumen and start a good venue that nutures independent music, then we would have something to be proud of.

The only thing to escape from Dallas is the shit. Shit is popular if you haven't noticed. From Centromatic to the Secret Machines to just about anything from this fucking state that has done anything nationally is the bottom of the barrel. I hope it changes. Bedhead and Stickmen with Rayguns are the two screaming exceptions in Dallas music history since 1980. They are of a different quality that I've never seen even close to being equalled around here. Why does it suck so bad?

There's a lot of terrible music everywhere -- I can't name five bands from Austin that are worth a shit, and there's no one center of greatness in the universe. Towns go hot and cold over time, and that goes for EVERY town in the USA.

Whether you like a lot of the bands from Denton/Dallas is irrelevant, but you should have respect for the bands around here that have worked hard and accomplished good things for themselves.

mb