Deerhoof

San Francisco’s Deerhoof must have a magic radio that picks up stations from outer space — or the future, or some kind of off-kilter bizarro world out there where anything goes. This is evident from the way it creates such a distinctive blend of sweet pop goodness and obtuse experimental rock meanderings as if it were the most obvious thing possible. Listening to the group’s latest release, Friend Opportunity, you don’t get the sense that its members are trying too hard to be clever or avant-garde; rather, it seems like a bunch of folks playing the kind of music they love to hear. As a result, Deerhoof sounds like nothing else on the planet as it offers a constantly surprising mix of the best and weirdest bits of the entire musical spectrum, one that segues from soaring melodies to arrhythmic, atonal excursions without missing a beat. It all feels just a little bit ahead of everything else going right now, like the band is tuned into a wave that no one else can hear.