Brother Danielson / Deerhoof
Bottom of the Hill
September 18, 2004

Review by Jake Thomas

I was damn excited to see Br. Danielson…a few years ago, I saw the Danielson Famile open for Low without knowing a damn thing about them and left the show totally floored. Since then I’ve become a pretty big fan of all of Daniel Smith’s work, both with the Famile and solo (although it should be noted that he writes the songs for all that he participates in, and the Famile help on the solo recordings, so the difference between the two is pretty negligible). I had heard a few stories about his solo shows, and this lived up to it in both costume and spirit – the man was dressed from head to toe in an enormous tree outfit; outfit may not be the proper word, really, as the tree stayed put in one place with his guitar affixed to the front, and he inserted his head and arms through holes for the performance. He was accompanied by two fellas who played a multitude of instruments, but just drums and bass for the majority of the time. Not unlike the Danielson Famile, Br. Danielson sounded like a really askew Pixies with a folky edge; the only thing missing were the female backing vocals and nurse uniforms. The album they were touring for, “Brother: Son”, is easily one of the best things to come out all year and will most certainly make my top ten list when 2004 comes to an end; much of what they played live came from this album, to my delight. There were a number of moments when the band tried to get the crowd to participate in some sing- and clap-a-longs, but few were having it; apparently the earlier all-ages show had been much more successful in these endeavors (not surprisingly). Either way, I couldn’t have asked for a better performance, and the show only left me with more love for the new record than I went in with.


The headliners, and what everyone seemed to be there for, were local lads (and lady) Deerhoof. This group’s upward trajectory over the last couple of years has been great to see, with folks from all sorts of different backgrounds heaping gobs and gobs of praise upon the quartet. I’ve always thought they were pretty good, but never quite got what all of the over-the-top adulation was all about…obviously, I hadn’t seen them live. “Holy Shit!” are the first words that come to mind; love them or hate them, after seeing them live you’d be pretty damn impressed either way. They were easily one of the tightest groups I’ve ever seen, the guitarists in perfect sync with one another and the muppet-like drummer going nuts for nearly the duration of the show. Folks, this is what happens when you try to meld math rock and pop together, and you do it correctly; it was like Dilute and Cibo Matto decided to form a super group. Even live I found myself turned off from the vocals from time to time, but the music was so good that it didn’t even matter…these San Francisco locals are most assuredly deserving of any and all the hype they get, if they continue to put on shows like this.


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