It's a blessing and a curse that whenever there's a crisis,
Deerhoof
rises to the occasion. The same issues -- climate change, growing authoritarianism, a global pandemic -- that made the 2020s such a fraught time also made them banner years for the band's music, and
Noble and Godlike in Ruin
takes its place as another eloquent statement on the topical and timeless problems facing humanity.
embodies this turbulence, venturing into denser, more challenging territory than they did on either
Actually, You Can
or
Miracle-Level
. It's a thrill to hear them throw everything they've got at their audience on songs like "Kingtoe," a jaunty contraption of chugging rhythms, counterpoint vocals, and rippling pianos that interlock like turning gears. The group's enduring inspiration from classical music and free jazz resurfaces on "A Body of Mirrors," where strings, brass, and processed vocals combine with the impact of planets crashing into each other, and on "Who Do You Root For?," where squalling sax tangles with barbed guitars. As good as
is at making the wildest sonic combinations seem effortless,
's warring musical factions might be even more expressive: From its sludgy rhythms and mockingly bright melody to its dystopian spoken-word coda, "Disobedience" captures the unmoored feeling of the album's era.
unites all of
's artfully jarring sounds to remind listeners that in times of conflict, empathy is vital. On the deceptively gentle opener "Overrated Species Anyhow,"
Satomi Matsuzaki
sends love to all the "savages," "aliens," and "animals"; later, she and the rest of the band try on different viewpoints for size, bringing on
Saul Williams
for the funk-rock chaos of "Under Rats" and reframing the threat of nuclear war as queasy, pitch-black humor on "Ha, Ha Ha Ha, Haaa."
delivers the album's message across movingly on its finale. "Immigrant Songs" crystallizes both
Matsuzaki
's experience of being othered ("All I needed was kindness from you/But you think we're in your house") and the losses of an exclusionary society as it morphs from a lilting indie-pop call for understanding into a shrieking abyss. Engaging and enlightening,
is political art of the highest order -- and more proof that
will always find something deeply felt to communicate about the state of the world. ~ Heather Phares