Saturday Night Wrist (2006) is the hardest record in the band’s history, hard to make, hard to love at first. Recorded while the tension between Chino Moreno and the rest of the band threatened Deftones’ very existence, it bears the scars of its chaotic making.
And yet. « Hole in the Earth » is one of their most beautiful singles, pure melancholy; « Cherry Waves » unfolds one of the most accomplished shoegaze reveries in their catalogue; « Rats!Rats!Rats! » proves they can still bite. The record searches, gropes, sometimes scatters, the fault of a piecemeal recording, but its peaks land true.
It is a transitional album, uneven, less tightly held than its neighbours. But its wounded, nocturnal atmosphere makes it endearing, and it already announces the moult that would yield Diamond Eyes. A record of cracks, where fragility becomes material.
Verdict: 7.5. Imperfect and lopsided, yet shot through with magnificent flashes. The record of the dark hours, worth revisiting with indulgence.
