CD Review: Deftones

Saturday Night Wrist

By Bill Weedmark

After a three-year break, the Deftones are back. Saturday Night Wrist brings the band back to the sounds that made White Pony one of their best albums, while still feeling like a step forward rather than a cheap imitation of their older songs.

Unlike the self-titled Deftones, which was a much heavier, guitar-driven album, Saturday Night Wrist is a darker, more melancholy album that has an almost ethereal quality to it. The heavy guitar is still there, but it’s balanced with a more prominent bass and more sedate, melodic vocals.

The first single, “Hole in the Earth,” has a mystic and nostalgic air to it that immediately reminded me of some of the better parts of White Pony, bringing to mind “Change” and “Digital Bath.” It feels light and airy at first, almost dancing along from note to note, but the chorus and the climax of the song still bear the heavy riffs that you’d expect.

As a whole, this feels like their most cohesive album yet. The tone of the album is very consistent, and it flows seamlessly from one track to the next. None of the tracks feel too similar, but they all have a darker kind of air about them.

“Rapture” and “Pink Cellphone” are the two tracks that don’t seem to fit with the album, with the latter being very odd, dirty and sexual in nature. It’s funny, to be sure, to have a female spoken-word vocal discussing practices that would make Hugh Heffner blush, but it doesn’t feel like it belongs on the album.

“Beware,” “Cherry Waves” and “Rivière” are the stand out tracks in my eyes. Each one has some pretty intense guitar work, beautiful vocals and that “midnight” type of ambience to them, and I could see any one becoming the next single.

Saturday Night Wrist is a great album, sure to appeal to fans of all genres of rock, and it’s an album that is sure to be played often, probably alone and in the dark.