PICK HIT: DEFTONES

Maybe you've heard of Maverick Records...maybe not. Even if you're not the type to check the fine print on the backs of the CD packages to see which band may be signed to what label (and, let's face it, who really gives a rat's ass about that), sometimes a label gets so hot so fast that you can't HELP but notice. It happened with Geffen in the '80's...it happened to Interscope in the early '90's, and it happened with Maverick in the late 90's.

In case you really have been living under a rock, however, here's the scoop; Maverick is the label owned and operated by pop-diva Madonna, and since it's inception in the early 90's, it's fast become one of the most successful operations in the entire record biz. A list of Maverick's acts reads like a veritable Who's Who of popular music -- including everyone from stars-of-the-moment Prodigy to angst queen Alanis Morrissette, to up-and-coming superstars, Love Spit Love. But if you put the Maverick staffers on-the-line, and make 'em tell you which label act excites them the most at the moment, odds are that their answer is going to be the Deftones.

Yup, the Deftones, that heavily metallic, wickedly rocking quartet from Sacramento, CA which toured the world with the likes of Pantera, Korn, and White Zombie last year following the release of their debut disc, Adrenaline. But now with the appearance of their second disc, Around The Fur, vocalist Chino Moreno, guitarist Stephen Carpenter, bassist Chi Cheng, and drummer Abe Cunningham appear primed and ready to kick both themselves and their Maverick corporate family one more big step up the rock and roll ladder of success.

"This album is sweet...and it's ruthless," Moreno said. "I think it's ever heavier than Adrenaline was, if you can imagine that. We've really pushed the barriers this time -- and those we haven't pushed we've simply blown apart." You've got to hand it to these guys -- the Deftones have certainly covered a lot of rock and roll turf during their brief, bombastic career. Since the late '95 release of their first album (which sold over 200,000 copies), this unit has been on a non-stop quest for world domination...or at least world recognition. Their 13-month tour carried them to ports both near-and-far, where the group's incredible energy and overwhelming power won over new converts at each and every road stop. They appeared in The Crow: City of Angels flick, as well as having their song, Teething, appear on the movie's soundtrack. They made another soundtrack score when their brain-bashing tune Can't Even Breathe wound up in Escape From L.A. But all that action has only primed the group's musical pump for the release of Around The Fur, the most strident, ambitious and downright nasty disc one is likely to hear this -- or any other -- year.

"Around The Fur has a lot of passion," Carpenter said. "It's heavier, yet it has more feeling than the first one did. Maybe we did try and make more things happen this time because we're more comfortable with who we are as a band and more aware of what we can do in the studio. But don't think this isn't as dangerous an album as Adrenaline was. This one will be just as destructive to your stereo speakers, I can promise you that."

With the disc's initial radio track, My Own Summer(Shove It), already receiving wide-spread airplay, and their pre-release 20 city U.S. tour ranking as an unqualified success, the Deftones have already taken off for Europe where their hard-edged sound has made them a major attraction. But don't fret, 'Tone fans -- the boys will be back on American shores by late spring -- and they promise their new stage show will blow everyone completely away!

"We learned a lot on tour last time," Moreno said. "We have a better idea of what works best up there, what gets the people off. This time our intention is to just take everything over-the-top. It's gonna be an experience neither any of us or any of the fans are ever gonna forget."