(Frenetic Records)
Side projects are a mixed blessing. Without them, the world would be without the Traveling Wilburys or The Postal Service. But with them, the world has to deal with , a side project consisting of Deerhoof members John Dieterich, Jay Pellicci and Chris Cohen. This ill-fated album, pieced together by otherwise talented individuals, exponentially derails with each song, all the while offending anyone who appreciates a decently constructed song.
While the latest Deerhoof release, , successfully ascended to a new level of catchy popular music without denying their oddball roots, Natural Dreamers forsakes musical cohesion and delves deep into avant-garde songwriting. This type of unpredictable, improvised music can be incredibly expressive, but Natural Dreamers fails to capture the necessary sincerity and depth required to pull off this kind of album.
Almost completely instrumental, the record's indistinguishable melodies, mismatched guitar riffs and compounded drumbeats hint strongly at Natural Dreamers' overcompensation. For most bands, improvisation gives shape to songs and melodies, but Natural Dreamers' treble-heavy musical schizophrenia only reveals a lack of preparedness and a sense of frantic creativity.
What the group is trying to accomplish with this album is unclear, whether it was a self-indulgent experiment or simply some divergent fun. And while albums don't require an obvious purpose to be any good, the lack of substance and sincerity behind is a major flaw.
Suppressing the urge to follow industry-standard songwriting methods for every song is admirable and necessary; however, Natural Dreamers hasn't done anything that other bands have done better before. They don't have the improvisation talent of Dub Narcotic, they don't have the avant-garde talent of Hella. There is no proper setting for the album, either. Most albums shine in certain situations, be it on the radio or live in concert. But is just too scattershot and unrefined to be enjoyed by anyone but hardcore Deerhoof fans.
Simply put, this record lacks depth and the level of sophistication expected of barrier-breaking artists. Granted, side projects are the place where musicians explore and indulge, but runs in too many directions at once. It merely represents another side project gone astray, trying a bit too hard to be unique and important.
