Avant-garde Pop Genius: Deerhoof Lands in Hong Kong

Description

David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Questlove, Mary Halvorson and Radiohead are just a few of the music visionaries who have expressed admiration for Deerhoof. It remains boggling that, after more than three decades of ear-bending sonic wizardry, such a critically revered band is to be found playing a 200-capacity venue in Hong Kong — but here at Zolima, we’re definitely not complaining.

The only possible reason for Deerhoof’s relative obscurity can only be their complete allergy to classification. Formed in 1994 in San Francisco as an experimental noise band, following the addition of Japanese singer Satomi Matsuzaki a year later – a week after she arrived in the US! –  the group has pursued an utterly idiosyncratic sonic path. The quartets undefinable art-pop stew blends elements of noise and free jazz with punk-rock riffing, sugary vocal hooks, J-pop kookiness and leftfield lyrical imagery, inspired by everything from canonical novels to cartoon characters. Looking for a primer? With every member contributing vocals, 2005’s double-LP The Runners Four may be the most representative sonic smorgasbord we can suggest from their 20-album oeuvre.

Recent setlists have lent towards Deerhoof’s trio of most recent records: the gleefully knotty, psych-pop-ish Actually You Can (2021); Miracle-Level (2023), the band’s first album sung completely in Japanese; and Noble and Godlike in Ruin (2025), a DIY production inspired by listening an audiobook of Frankenstein.

The concert begins at 20:00.