Jagjaguwar/Brah
Brooklyn’s Oneida is a badass band that only seems to appeal to badass music dudes. Whether that will change with this triple album is still to be seen but it’s yet another overstuffed banger from this stupidly ambitious bunch.
Disc 1 is the strongest of the three with its blown-out bizarre-o noise-rock (“10:30 at the Oasis”) and M.I.A.-inspired dancefloor riddims (“Brownout in Lagos”). Disc 2 finds Oneida mining more traditional classic- and psych-rock territory that’s not nearly as appealing but does include some furious standouts like the Liars-meets-Trashmen stomp of “It Was a Wall.” Finally Disc 3 ends it off with two epic-length jams; the hypnotizing but somewhat dull sitar-filled “O” and blistering 20-minute closer “Folk Wisdom.”
Like Yo La Tengo’s I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass this sprawling triple serves as a veritable mixtape of many of the band’s personalities though still merely scratches the surface of their mind-melting depths. As with anything in the Oneida canon it’s worth the price of admission for Kid Millions’s drumming alone.
