Deerhoof write avant-garde music that makes you address rock as a work of art. Def Leppard write heavy metal that makes you want to get sweaty and perhaps naked. So yeah, the former covering the latter makes all kinds of wonderful nonsense.
Yet that’s just what happened on the mixtape Deerhoof sent fans who pre-ordered their forthcoming album, The Magic (due out this Friday, June 24th). Alongside their own versions of songs like “Goo” by Sonic Youth and David Bowie’s “China Girl”, Satomi Matsuzaki and co. took on the classic ’80s hair metal/stripper hit “Pour Some Sugar on Me”. Now, the band has shared their glam rock side with the rest of the world by releasing a video for their Def Leppard cover. It’s clear from Matsuzaki’s karaoke-esque delivery that their tongues are firmly planted in their cheeks on this one, but darnit if it isn’t perfectly endearing.
Take a listen via the video, which mashes up live footage of Deerhoof and Def Leppard, above.
