Rob’s Album of The Week: Oneida’s Expensive Air
Brooklyn experimental rockers Oneida have a knack for pushing the creative envelope in a variety of ways. The quintet of drummer and vocalist Kid Millions, multi-instrumentalist Bobby Matador, guitarist and bassist Hanoi Jane, synth player and organist Barry London and guitarist Showtime refuse to be classified while forging a highly amplified sound. This touches upon the styles of post-hardcore, psychedelic rock and krautrock while creating something unique through an array of pulsating rhythms and driving riffs. This approach has garnered the band a loyal following along with them being highly regarded within the independent music realm. Their latest installment is their seventeenth album Expensive Air, which came out via Joyful Noise Recordings on July 19.
One constant variable the new record has is the amount of energy that comes across through each song. The instrumentation is succinctly harnessed with stellar syncopation being exhibited to exude a fantastic amount of emphasis. There’s a classic punk ethos serving as the foundation with the aesthetics branching off like a multi-layered trifle. Each part is different from the other, but at the same time there’s a substantial cohesiveness being achieved. Everything I just described is what makes Expensive Air a great full-length release due to how everything comes together.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I enjoy music that doesn’t go with current trends. They’re the artistic outliers while unapologetically doing what inspires them, which I think should be commended and respected. Oneida has been a prime example of this since the late ’90s and my only regret with this band is that I didn’t get into them sooner. With this being said, there’s always a first time for everything and it’s better to get into a band or musician at a later instance then at no instance at all. A great way to start is by checking out my top tracks off of the Album of The Week:
Those riffs I mentioned come into play during “Spill”. The way they come across as a sonic barrage with the drums displaying a seismic quality is supremely excellent. Another example of the drums having an excellent presence is “Stranger”. They serve as the backbone for the driving quality of the arrangements with the emphasis being consistent from beginning to end. The longest tune on the album is “Gunboats”, which exemplifies Oneida’s improvisational nature.
Oneida just celebrated the release of Expensive Air with two shows, one being at TV Eye in Ridgewood, New York on July 19 and the other being at Deep Cuts in Medford, Massachusetts on July 20. As of press time, the only other gig the band has is at Tubby’s in Kingston, New York on August 9 for a pre-party ahead of the Deep in The Valley Festival. Hopefully they perform a bunch of more times in the near future. For now, grab a copy of the new album. It’s the kind of music that’s expansive and wide-ranging while also being straight to the point.
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