Deerhoof “Noble and Godlike in Ruin” Cassette (Indie Exclusive)

ThoughDeerhoof long ago established itself as one of the greatest rock groups ever to stride the earth, the furiously inventive quartet releases new albums on the schedule of a young band still hungry for its first break. Each one presents a challenge to themselves, to discover some previously unknown combination of candy-coated hard-rock riffs and free-jazz percussive freakouts, sideways pop hooks and fearsome dissonance, trenchant social commentary and surrealist humor. And yet somehow, theyre also profoundly reliable, a strange but true descriptor for a band so creatively restless. Joyful and foreboding, cybernetic and deeply human, all at once, Noble and Godlike in Ruin carries an implicit note of defiant optimism in their refusal to bow to convention or received wisdom.

Artistic resilience, gratitude, and dedication to process have yielded Tether, Annahstasia’s full-length debut on art-forward indie label drink sum wtr, a collection of beaming torch songs, orchestral hymns, and astral anthems that feel lived-in, drawn from the human experience and the spectrum of love.