Oneida - Preteen Weaponry (Jagjaguwar)
3/5
By: Alex Hibbert
BUY DOWNLOADOneida have never been one to rest on their laurels. Their releases since forming in 1997 have consistently changed course, from the ecstasy in monotony of 2002's Each One Teach One to the more recent Happy New Year, a record that merged a sense of melancholy with tunes so loud partial deafness becomes a given. Having always been a little afraid of Oneida's back catalogue due to the irrational fear that after sitting through an entire half an hour one riff concept piece I'd never be able to enjoy the delights of, say, Wham! In the same way again, as Preteen Weaponry landed at my desk I was half hoping they'd ditched the prog and decided to focus all that musical talent, which they no doubt have, into something more worthwhile - a Christmas no.1 perhaps?
The first in a triptych entitled Thank Your Parents, Preteen Weaponry consists of 'three parts that should be listened to at once and in order' we're instructed. Immediately laying down the foundation for releases to follow; Preteen Weaponry sees Oneida start to realise something that has been three years in the making and features band members past and present; an epic piece divided into three distinct tracks that flow together but ultimately offer different things. So no 'Last Christmas' then?
As the first track starts, drums filtering through a hazy throb of guitar and guttural bass, Oneida fall into the monophonic rooting that established itself in 'Each One.' But as the track progresses and we find new hooks shifting above a repetitive foundation we realise this is a different Oneida to that of old. Here they sound older and wiser; instead of the Oneida we knew; blasting you with a sensory assault of churning guitar lines sluggish bass, they exhibit a new-found restraint, each loop and riff layered seamlessly together; Single notes merge into a sporadic layer of organ as an acoustic guitar comes to life somewhere between the two. Details constantly form and shift, layers of sound come and go, shifting incandescently to create a more distinct experience that manifests itself in a hazy cloud of tripped out prog and ends up somewhere perched above the smoke in a Zen like state.
The second part turns away from the organic feeling of the first immediately as a tribal beat hovers over a backdrop of guitars straight out of Blade Runner. A futuristic landscape appears amidst a beat straight out of a nightmarish rainforest vision, and Oneida intertwine two different mantra's creating Preteen Weaponry's point of equilibrium. Oneida break into a psychedelic chant for the first and only time on 'Preteen' as a guitar wah-wah's menacingly behind them, until the whole thing dissembles amidst a surge of white noise and static. Until a slow crawl starts to pick up pace and Oneida unleash a bolt of electricity through the whole thing and we're launched headfirst into the final part of what seems like a journey that's taken years when we thought days.
Snare crashes as Oneida wake from the gentle slumber of part two and start to find a rhythm in perfect contrast to the awkward movements of what came before. Part three's electronic throbbing disharmony is Oneida's homage to their Krautrock forefathers, a nod in the direction whilst retaining enough awkward individuality to distance themselves from the thought they have a genre. As we're drawn towards an urgent finish, drum roll quickening amidst a climax of electronic discord drawing suddenly to a gentle hint of a whisper that signifies there's much more to come upon the release of Rated O, the second part of Thank You Parents, released at the start of next year. No matter how uneasy a concept album that's a third of a triptych can make you feel, Oneida have created something that ultimately revels in its nature, but yet feels incomplete, a segment of something bigger to be revealed in part two and three.
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