"We basically [used to show] each other song ideas and then that day turn the record button on, having never rehearsed," drummer Greg Saunier tells Billboard.com. "This time we wrote the songs and rehearsed them, and actually played them at a few concerts where we could play them straight through as a band."

But Deerhoof's newfound methods have not made the band any less challenging. "Offend Maggie" extends Deerhoof's schizophrenic approach to melding rock, electronics and free jazz sounds, but also introduces new guitarist Ed Rodriguez, expanding the group to a full-time four-piece.

"Ed's music, in its way, is so flexible," Saunier explains. "He's working with combinations of notes in a sort of very academic way, which could be turned into anything. We turned his ideas into something completely unlike what we would have foreseen."