Rating: 6/10
Some records just seem like a folded Sunday newspaper. You get to learn what the cover story is about but you cannot engage in a thorough reading unless you unfold the whole thing and go through the printed pages. The difference with Deerhoof’s latest EP is that you are not allowed to unfold the work or double its duration without repeating what you’ve already heard. In this sense, Green Cosmos is a flatulent, speculating blister that succeeds in anticipating the proper follow-up to the highly-acclaimed Milk Man, but fails to provide the casual listener with many reasons to stay and wait.
The inaugural track, “Come See the Duck”, builds from an emancipated guitar riff to encounter a menacing, female voice somehow reminiscent of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O., but this is where the rock comparisons end. From the title track on, the record evolves into experimentation that both mesmerizes and makes us prisoners of the rhythm discharge.
“Spiral Golden Town” begins with a charmed drone that most producers would consider using as the soundtrack to an animated series, with churning trumpets and beautifully arranged bass lines. Before “Koneko Kitten”, one might think that the San Francisco pop experimentalists had lowered their humour quotient, or at least the smirk shown on tracks from previous records like Reveille’s “No One Fed Me So I Stayed” or last year’s “That Big Orange Sun Run Over Speed Light”. On the aforementioned "Koneko", even the listener goes searching for the lost kitten.
Sometimes this release is like taking part of a sci-fi adventure; then again, it is often like going to the nearest cafeteria and being bothered by an old TV set re-broadcasting a Japanese singing contest… or even being dragged through an unbearable conversation with a guy who claims to buy Penthouse for the articles. Either way, what seems most correct is that here, Deerhoof have somehow orphaned their music from its original context and placed it squarely in a brave new world where new things may burst. For those who thought Deerhoof could do no wrong, they have proven they can - and that it may have been the right thing to do, really.
It’s not that they have to sit on telephone directories to reach the piano keys; it’s more like they tumbled into them and loved it. Green Cosmos will probably be regarded by some as a statement by factory workers desperate for overtime pay, but it has many sonic pearls that will amuse enthusiasts. The only possible drawback to this is its recording time, which doesn’t exceed fifteen minutes; the duration is a little too short of a testimony to warrant new recruits or money from the boss. Besides, Green Cosmos will always be footnoted in favour of Milk Man, so why bother?
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