Oak & Bone Revisited


There's a new batch of records on the way (and a doozy of a story to go along), but today i was trying to think of the most unsung record in my collection. Actually, it was pretty easy, and i already know. It's Oak & Bone. 

It seems completely ridiculous to say some random band you've never heard of made a perfect self-titled debut album and stopped, but they did. What did i say the first time around? 

"... the self-titled LP from Oak & Bone. The opener is called Oakener, so you should just expect pushing Hardcore Punk as close to the edge of Stoner Death Doom as possible.  

Aspirin and alcohol aren't the most exciting drugs in music, but i think we can at least give proper credit for specificity.  

I'm somewhat known for being really hard on lyrics, especially when they are terrible. These aren't. It might not be your cup of caffeinated beverage, but these are legitimate free verse poems delivered with what must be the world's strongest uvula. As screaming goes, this is appropriately mucus-laden while still maintaining a modicum of intelligibility. Many many many bands are much much worse and more famous. I might be totally biased by the particular bands from there that attract my attention, but Syracuse, NY does not come across as a particularly enjoyable place to live. In fact, that entire I90 run from Buffalo to Albany just seems totally depressed and miserable. Google maps research on that one? Of course, i go all out for these things... 

... You're gonna say "whaaaaa?" like you always do when i'm imagineering your reactions, but this album is like Monster Magnet meets Crowbar on Quaaluuds. It's sludgy, but it grooves. There's a couple brief moments of super drippy surf reverb, soggy chorused cleans, some indescribably nasty leads through at least 3 stacked fuzz pedals, and the vocals are just putrid. Fantastic." 

That's a rave review if ever i wrote one, and well deserved to boot. I got mine from a B&N binge like my next set of reviews will be, but hex records says they still have copies for sale: 

https://hexrecords.bandcamp.com/album/oak-bone-s-t-lp 

I'm gonna change my original statement a little, and put these guys on par with Woodhawk. Not that they're similar, but that you could totally learn to like what they're doing even if you're a self-proclaimed not fan of Metal. I'm kidding, you'll absolutely hate it, even though it's phenomenal. 

What makes it so good, though? Well, a couple things. First, there's no question as to what they are, Oak & Bone is Groove Sludge. Second, not a single moment of not knowing what to say. No choruses to wonder how many times they should repeat, and the intro and untitled penultinate track titled Untitled have a total of one grunt between them. Sometimes the music speaks for itself. Third, they include the lyrics and occasionally sing something different. I like that, it's like they're saying "yeah, this is the song, but sometimes i express ideas with different words." That's like real people, and i'm a fan. Last, you don't get the sense that anyone is lost or confused about what they're supposed to be playing. Nobody's fighting for the spotlight, they all just play their instruments like that's just the way this song goes. Admit it, sometimes you don't want to hear 3 or 4 different egos play different genres at the same time (or possibly most of the time). Post script, they leave the amp noise running for a few seconds after the song is over. Amps are godawful noise factories, and i appreciate a good dose of tangible mundanity more than most.

The downside, of course, is that there's no need for more albums. Maybe they broke up for any of the normal dysfunctional reasons, but it sounds like a definitive statement to my ears, like anything more would be superfluous, or worse redundant. Best to just sink back into the leaf mold and moss of the ancient forest of unrest from whence they came, leaving only their untarnished legacy to frighten unsuspecting hikers who will later retell the experience as a fuzzy, haunting memory around the campfire. 

Regardless, as i said the first time, possibly even more so, fantastic.

----

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