ENEMYHOGS
Brooklyn's genre-defying Oneida takes their primary
cues from '60s garage and punk bands (especially MC5), but throw in
plenty of heavy, bluesy '70s stoner rock (think Blue Cheer, Foghat,
etc.), plus dashes of jerky synth pop, avant-garde jazz, and Krautrock.
Having released several albums, among them the important "Come on
Everybody, Let's Rock", "Anthem of the Moon", "Each One Teach One" and
"Secret Wars", no band has been so praised for such a wide range of
music over the last ten years. Nobody has come close to matching their
output of dazzlingly creative, uncategorizable music. Psychedelia,
minimalism, maximalism, one-step, infinitewave, blah blah blah blah it
s all there, all the time.
And "Happy New Year", the band's current album, is Oneida's zenith.
Simultaneously the most eclectic and most coherent album they have yet
released, "Happy New Year" flows flawlessly from a traditional hymn of
grim beauty (Distress) through hypnotic rounds, thunderous kraut
grooves, severe ballads, and other, indescribable music. Phil Manley of
Trans Am and the Fucking Champs and experimental pianist Emily Manzo
return for encores of their guest appearances on 2005's "The Wedding";
they are joined by Shahin Motia of Ex Models, Brad Truax of Home, and
frequent Oneida collaborator Barry London.
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