If you haven’t listened to O’Death before, I should warn you in advance: be ready to have your face kicked in. The band’s official genre is gothic-folk, a niche usually associated with 16 Horsepower. They only take a loose folk template with their instrumentation, but are all gypsy zest, sea shanty singalong, and hardcore punk dynamism. They sing or just I say holler, scream and screech, about suitably morbid subjects, sure just look at their band name and morose artwork. They all probably drink too much, and get in fights with pool cues over who’s sister made eyes at who (ain’t lookin’ achoo anee-way, ugly ass sunuvabitch). They sound like the worst company ever, right?
Wrong. Loosen up, man. To understand O’Death, you can’t be afraid of getting a little splash of blood or beer on your pristine plaid shirt. Let yourself get jolted around by the hyperactive moshings of album opener Lowtide, and you won’t get lost for the next 13 soused tracks. While the band’s calling card is their high-tempo scream-alongs (represented on this album by Legs of Sin and A Light That Does Not Dim), there are more than enough slow moments to come up for air. And while mostly the atmosphere is pantomimic darkness, songs like Angeline muddle the collection up with a Weezer-like shamble. Plastering together their disparate styles throughout is an overarching melody via Bob Pycior’s frenetic fiddle work, and an unquestionable ingenuity for unadulterated catchiness.
You might have heard elements of O’Death in more mainstream indie before. Greg Jamie’s manic vocals (“I’ve been waiting so long for my judgement! I’ve been waiting so so long!”) recall Black Francis and Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock. The cowpunk stylings that characterised Tapes N’ Tapes breakthrough album drench this one and the eclecticism of Gogol Bordello is the order of the day here. But unlike all these acts, whose chosen stylistic nuances are quite obviously studied ones, O’Death pull off their act with an overwhelming genuineness. All the more impressive since they’re all college boys and have probably never been in a bar fight in their life. Smart-assed sunuvabitches.
See Also: Pixies – Surfer Rosa [Elektra], The Pogues – Rum, Sodomy & The Last [WEA]
