Reviewing: The Heavies

Oneida
Preteen Weaponry
Jagjaguwar/Brah

Ancestors
Neptune With Fire
North Atlantic Sound/Tee Pee Records


Pt. 1

"Clear a path, you mother fucker! Clear a path! I'm going home!"
- William "D-Fens" Foster

It could quite possibly be my own twisted disposition, but there is something chillingly familiar with the character of William "D-Fens" Foster (played by Michael Douglas) in the 1993 film Falling Down and the newest album by Brooklyn veterans Oneida, Preteen Weaponry.

In case you missed it, the film follows Foster through one of the hottest days of the year in Los Angeles. Laid off from his job, feeling alienated out of place and beyond down on his luck, Foster begins to violently lash out, creating chaos in a world that from seems to have gone mad. Now before you think I am going to accuse the members of the group of being laid off defense contractors (like the character Douglas plays) or going totally bonkers and taking out store owners up and down Bedford Ave. in Williamsburg, I must explain what brings me to this somewhat strange connection.

After ten years of putting out everything from strange takes on chamber pop with 2005's The Wedding to 2004's landmark Secret Wars, the trio has gathered glowing reviews by the truck load, and they are the essence of a rock critics kind of band. Challenging, loud, and for the most part ignored by the mainstream. In almost every single review, it is somehow mentioned that after so many albums, and so much hard work, Oneida has seen countless bands from their neighborhood pass them by (Yeah Yeah Yeah's, TV on the Radio). After making it almost impossible for countless bands to go on after their ferocious live show, Oneida is in a sense, the odd man out, almost a relic to the days when bands made music because it mattered to use their music as a craft, not to score 4 billion hits on Myspace.

With this newest release, Oneida has once and for all said "balls to all that talk." They are taking matters into their own hands, and things could get ugly. If you are waiting for Preteen Weaponry to be filled up with anthems that bark loudly, and bite hard, then you haven't got the slightest idea of the mindset Oneida is working in. Oneida creates a symphony of precise aggression, divided into three parts, in just under 40 minutes. Preteen Weaponry recalls some of the Kraut-Rock mechanics that helped define Oneida's sound in the last decade, while at certain points sounding almost contemporary to many of the "Indie-City" Chicago bands of the 90's; think of an all instrumental Steve Albini projects, or Tortoise on Steroids. The musicianship is wild yet totally in control, and with mention of Preteen Weaponry being the introduction to a three part series (the second installment, Rated O, is set to be a triple album!) Oneida is on a warpath, and you might want to remember back to the hottest days of the summer of 2008 where it all began.


Pt. 2

Of the hundreds of bands attempting to create heavy, intense, and moody space rock, I would say the percentage that can pull it off is only slightly higher than the number of rabid dogs that make it out of a kill shelter. The Los Angeles quintet Ancestors rise above the numbers and deliver the gargantuan Neptune With Fire.
In a fashion somewhat akin to San Francisco band Citay, Ancestors dive into the classical stylings of heavy music. Where Citay tone down using the monsters of the past as starting off points to create a more subdued (but still awesome!) sound, Ancestors charge into these two songs, giving nods to Pentagram, Black Sabbath, The Melvins and King Crimson. As the band creates peaks and valleys, you almost find yourself thinking they are re-creating soundtracks to some of Dario Argento's 1970's horror masterpieces.
In recognizing these influences, and sculpting them into 2 epic tracks, Ancestors create music that can only really be experienced with the shades drawn, and the headphones on.