More on: O'Death

Label: City Slang
Release Date: 22/09/08
Rating:

O'Death are the latest New York act to come to these shores bearing unusual instruments for rock 'n' roll, and on 'Broken Hymns, Limbs & Skins' the instruments du jour are fiddles, ukuleles and banjos that combine in raucous and frenetic blasts of punk, or you might say, 'gypsy punk'.

And indeed after the first listen, Gogol Bordello is the largest and most obvious influence on display as fiddles sweep and scurry around demonic drums and the highly strung vocals of Greg Jamie. Listen again to Jamie, however, and his voice is not too far away from that of Isaac Brock, and that's not where the Modest Mouse-isms end. 'Fire On Peshtigo' adds a group sing-along to its hoedown with extra moonshine dynamics, and 'A Light That Does Not Dim' wouldn't sound out of place on 'We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank'.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing though, and it's when O'Death are at their strongest in terms of songwriting that these comparisons present themselves. At other times you get the impression that the band are hoping that hearing these instruments playing this kind of music will be enough to keep people interested without adding the requisite craft.

'Broken Hymns, Limbs & Skins' is also a much stronger record when the band manage to combine sinister periods of tension before breaking away in the more raucous section, 'Vacant Moan' being a highlight that manages this tension and release whilst recalling 'Come On Pilgrim'-era Pixies.

There is more depth and quality to this record than may be apparent on first listen. Get past the self-conscious quirkiness of the band's sound and the rewards are there, however it feels like that at 14 tracks it's just a few songs too long and the lapses into formulaic fiddle-heavy endings detracts from what is still an interesting and energetic listen.

Andrew Grillo

O'Death Official Site
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