Pick the Cat's Eyes Out

Gushing that Band X sounds like Band Y is what we do best. It's why we adore Pandora so intensely. (Side note: I just went on Pandora and typed in "The Loch Ness Mouse" and only got song titles in the results. Okay, so Pandora can suck my bubblegum.) I've long been fond of Deerhoof because their mutty, mixtured pop makes playing such games of connect-the-dots so easy. I listened to their album, Offend Maggie, with a notepad and pen in hand, and the following acts sprung to mind: Wire, Desperate Bicycles, Swell Maps, Fire Engines, The Fall, Delta 5, Half Japanese -- pretty much every post-punk act Simon Reynolds took a scalpel to in that book. The best part is their approximating never sounds calculated. In keeping with this particular time period: It's not DIY, it's DID -- Do It Deerhoof. Clever? Never. I could have told you it's all about their extensive vamping and vocal-centric aesthetic, but Pandora has that shit copyrighted.