I wasn't that well briefed on them until David Shrigley did the artwork for last year's 'Friend Opportunity'. Stunned, I quickly entered the brilliant world of Deerhoof. As my days of working at the music shop named 'Fopp' in Bedford came to an untimely end (due to the company going into administration) I made my last purchases at the place; 5 CDs from Deerhoof's back catalogue, exploiting the staff discount but foolishly not stealing masses of CDs like my co-workers did. Sickening.

'Offend Maggie' was a difficult listen at first, like they all were, but overall it stands up really well amongst their previous albums. It's definitely a lot better than 'Friend Opportunity', which (embarrassingly) blew its load in the first three songs and had little to offer afterwards. Comparatively, 'Offend Maggie' is more consistent, albeit in a way more delicate than before. Overall, it's less rambunctious but more sweet than their general output has been. More restrained, but not to their own demise.

It's amazing how many addictive melodies their tiny singer, Satomi Matsuzaki, can create. Better still, the music that accompanies it is equally as addictive! The only thorn in their side is that, well, it sounds "like Deerhoof". Which is obviously no bad thing, per se, but it's an odd position to be in where a band's sound becomes so identifiable that they effectively paint themselves into a corner because they're so in tune with their own sound. On its own, I'm sure 'Offend Maggie' would receive heaps of praise, but compared to albums like 'Milk Man', 'The Runners Four' & 'Apple O'', it doesn't quite stand up to the standard they've shown previously.

But fear not, they WILL unite the world and write the perfect pop song soon. I'm sure of that.