“This have to be the most important viewers we’ve ever performed for,” grins Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier, peering out at Finish Of The Highway’s sizeable early-doors crowd, dampened however not disheartened by Thursday’s insidious drizzle. Simply the type of assembly of minds that EOTR was made for. An band of presumably selective attraction – such are their disjointed songs of math-rock virtuosity, blasts of beastly riffs and delicate Björk-meets-Yoko vocals about dying and onions – enjoying to an attentive crowd of sonic aficionados hungry for a problem.

It’s what has, over its 17 years, made EOTR Britain’s most refined, exploratory and cultured pageant; a spot the devoted flock to regardless of the line-up, an arthouse Glastonbury. And Deerhoof, like Khruangbin final yr, act as a method to turn into re-accustomed to its values.

Stretches of angular post-rock and looping, hypnotic chorus-pedal guitar traces drift from the stage, stilted and chopped to the diploma that they usually journey over themselves and land face first in a drum solo (sometimes accompanied by a bout of death-themed poetry). Singer Satomi Matsuzaki does can-can kicks in a inexperienced celebration costume, singing about seeing too many seagulls and rising tomatoes from lifeless onions. At factors they go full Townshend, invent crank metallic chanson (“L’Amour Tales”), or simply muck about for amusing. As they segue their math rock model of the Knight Rider theme into Eddie Grant’s “Electrical Avenue”, anybody following alongside on-line may assume the wags have gotten at Setlist.fm once more.

It’s been a yr of boutique festivals capturing their bolt early – Spiritualized headlined the Thursday night time of Inexperienced Man, for instance – and EOTR wholeheartedly joins in. Wilco prime the primary night time’s restricted invoice, with Jeff Tweedy in grateful temper, the band quicksilver of movement. Into the light Americana of “Handshake Medication” swoop squealing, hawk-like guitars; over the indie rock remorse of “I Am Attempting To Break Your Coronary heart” grows an avant-garde clatter and clamour reflecting the turmoil of the vindictive thoughts.

Sluggish-burn alt-country ventures into the cosmic are a speciality. “Chook With out A Tail/Base Of My Cranium” strikes from bristling folks self-flagellation – Tweedy lyrically beating himself with sticks and stabbing himself with a penknife – right into a scorching section that might be a lap across the afterlife. The languid “Inconceivable Germany” turns into a storm in Austin. The beautiful nation folks of “Misunderstood” builds to a chest-pounding finale, Tweedy bawling “Nothing! Nothing!” in anguished rock staccato. A howl from the precipice.

After a lot atmosphere-building, it’s refreshing when the set shifts into an easier lane, “Jesus, And many others” sinking into its candy nation pop melody and the beat pop of “Dawned On Me” approaching like alt-country’s reply to – oh sure – “Alright” by Supergrass. “Gonna play some nation music for you,” Tweedy says, strapping on an acoustic guitar for the honky-tonk-ish “Falling Aside (Proper Now)”, “that what you’ve been ready for?” Whether it is, we’re solely briefly indulged: earlier than lengthy, “Shot In The Arm” is making chemtrails throughout the Nashville skyline. Think about EOTR 2023’s gates not a lot open as comprehensively breached.