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May 22, 2006
Auld Lang Syne
For a band that's been steadily rocking for nearly ten years now, in a Brooklyn music scene that couldn't be more exhaustively discussed, Oneida still kind of slips in under the radar somehow. For their early career output the marginal attention was at least understandable. Album after album of towering guitar epics rooted in psychedelic experimentation and krautrock repetition are enough to cement a cult presence, but aren't generally going to break through to the indie audience at large (is that an oxymoron?). Stranger is the lack of widespread love for their last two albums, 2004's Secret Wars and last year's the Wedding. Wars reined in the more noisy grandeur of the band somewhat, adding Sonic Youth-ish mid tempo, almost pretty tunefulness to some shorter songs, giving the lumbering workouts some balance in the track sequencing. The Wedding developed the sound even further, embracing a sixties baroque pop influence that opened the blinds, shining some light on the basement jams with falsetto and deft string arrangements. Now, the admirably prolific band returns, with the forthcoming Happy New Year album, revealing a firm control of their slightly shifting signature sound. Able to draw on the brutal lock step of the formative albums, without sacrificing the newfound emphasis on vocal harmony and the wider pool of utilized instruments.
Oneida - History's Great Navigators
Excepting the false start electro bit that threatens to be a Life Aquatic homage, this song uses their previous obsession with repetition, but builds it self up with raggedly human elements rather than alien synths and dominating electric death. A single note piano stab is manically repeated, giving the song as much percussive drive as the lazy drum pattern hiding near the back of the mix. A woozy, bent guitar refrain is the other key element, diminishing the psychotic impact of the ivory assault a bit, and setting the stage for the vocals, which are still hanging out in the Wedding's high register. The end result is a rock treadmill, energetically sprinting in place, but building up a satisfying sweat in the process.
Oneida - Up With People
In contrast to the stationary circling of the last track, this one is a return to the ample riff brokering and ear punishing volume of the band's earlier work. An 8 minute monster that goes from rapid fire scrapes to more conventionally heavy psych air raid tones and back again. While the guitar contorts and flips about, the drumming anchors the song forcing a straight line trajectory onto the abrasive wanderlust. Humanizing the pyro-technical prowess is a chanted mantra, a tad on the blandly new age-y side ("You have to get up to get free!") but judiciously placed throughout the song, allowing for some release from the claustrophobic tightness.
The Happy New Year comes on July 11th, via the party animals at Jagjaguwar Records.
To visit Oneida's offical site, click here.
Tags: Oneida, Sonic Youth, Krautrock, Jagjaguwar
Posted by Jeff Klingman at May 22, 2006 12:06 PM
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