Restlessness and reliability aren’t often traits that coexist, but they define Deerhoof’s two-decade existence. Rarely has a band so hell-bent on not repeating itself been so good so often. The group’s new albums might receive a little less fanfare nowadays, maybe because the mind-frying isn’t revelatory anymore—it’s expected. And if Deerhoof rolled through your town on one of its tours to support La Isla Bonita last year, you might have even skipped it because the band has rolled through your town plenty of times.
New live album Fever 121614 is touted as “an official Record Store Day Black Friday release,” which carries a certain degree of ickiness. But if hearing the album achieves nothing else, it’ll motivate you to get o your ass the next time Deerhoof comes to your city. As the title implies, the show was recorded December 2014 at a club called Fever in Tokyo, and the band absolutely ripped it. The 12-song gatefold LP includes fan-made manga portraits of Deerhoof, plus a video download of the show.
—Matt Sullivan