Album of the week: Deerhoof’s The Magic - An ode to punk-rock joy

Joy can be defined as “a feeling of great pleasure and happiness”, which is exactly what Deerhoof’s new record transmits. The band promise “alchemies of punk, pop, glam, hair-metal, doo-wop, hip hop, and R&B, late-night car rides, long days, attitude and spandex”, and that’s precisely what they deliver.

It is hard to believe Deerhoof recorded this brilliant record in a week, but in their 20-plus years together, they have always been so instinctive, leaning on each other's individual yet equal talents, while casting and receiving light. The Magic sounds as vital as any of the best in their canon, and all of musical life is here – listen to the colourful poppiness of Acceptance Speech, or those guitars on The Devil and his Anarchic Surrealist Retinue, or that Madlib-baiting atmosphere on I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire.

The wonky melodies of the arresting Kafe Mania! crumble into a fantastically psychedelic landscape, and Criminals of the Dream lays the standard for an alternative soundtrack to the upcoming revisit to Twin Peaks. Model Behaviour, with its off-kilter vocals (Satomi Matsuzaki sounds better than ever), jazz-influenced melodies, and eerie, spacey sound, resembles a theme tune from a 1960s children's television show.

Learning to Apologise Effectively is all glorious, driving guitars and deft drums, complemented by the punk-squeal of the guitars on Dispossessor, which rattles and rolls; as Plastic Thrills does, with handclaps and vocals that sound like they were recorded in a sympathetic bathroom.

In fact, much of the record sounds like Deerhoof are working all of this out in a very small space (possibly a bathtub), and having the time of their lives while doing so. The closing song, Nurse Me, manages to make going to the hospital sound like fun ("X-Ray! X-Ray!" Matsuzaki sings, as the guitars morph into ambulance sirens).

The Magic is dizzyingly creative and pleasingly weird, but then again, it's Deerhoof's world – we just live in it. deerhoof.net