Deerhoof is a San Francisco musical group, currently consisting of Satomi Matsuzaki (usually vocals and bass), John Dieterich (usually guitar), Ed Rodriguez (usually guitar as well) and Greg Saunier (usually drums).
Although typically classified as indie rock due to their having been on an indie rock label (Kill Rock Stars) for the entirety of their career, the unconventional nature of Deerhoof's music makes genre identification difficult. But several recurring features can be said to constitute Deerhoof's distinctive sound: unassuming vocal delivery set against hyper-expressive instrumental playing; an elastic approach to group dynamics and rhythm more akin to the rubato of classical music performance practice than rock; odd melodies; harmonic sophistication and dissonance; disjointed, condensed, asymmetrical and otherwise unconventional song structures; raw and at times strident sound surfaces; and improvisation.
