Deerhoof - La Isla Bonita

When Deerhoof make a new album, they’re not continuing a sequence; they’re having a conversation. Whether coordinating the whole thing over email or swapping band roles as an experiment, the Bay Area band have been going twenty years without a lull in inventiveness.

Their twelfth album, ‘La Isla Bonita’ is no exception, and was made during a week long sleepover in guitarist Ed Rodriguez’s basement; during which the host claims they spent most time “arguing over whether to try and sound like Joan Jett or Janet Jackson”.

Deerhoof have always had this knack for putting a trampled-on fret board into their magi-mix melting pot of ideas and ending up with something that clicks together like a hitch-free game of Tetris, and whether Satomi Matsuzaki is busting out vocal refrains like “too many choice, to order breakfast” on, or drummer Greg Saunier has turned his arms into erratic, thrashing cymba-bashers, ‘La Isla Bonita’ is somehow a ferociously good pop album.

For anyone who’s ever wondered what sort of album a hybrid of Joan Jett and Janet Jackson would make, the answer is right here.