Labels: The Mylene Sheath
Review by: Alex Deller
So I was a pretty easy mark for the first Ô GES LP. Crunching post-hardcore FFO Handsome, Hum and Quicksand? Yeah, go on. This newie, though? This is something else. You still have that hefty 90s crunch, but it’s as though in the intervening months/years they’ve signed a deal with the devil or something. The songs are more dynamic, more ambitious and just MORE all-round; loaded with oodles more pop and pep to the point where every song is a bona fide, good-to-go anthem. They have an oozing, proggy unctuousness to them that slips and slides, the band slopping great melodies in front of you like a haul of shimmering, wriggling fish writhing in a big ol’ net. There’s a sniff of Wild Throne’s out-thereness, a big chunk of QOTSA (everything from that magnificent first album through to their more experimental Lullabies/Era Vulgaris ventures) and also a taste of the more bombastic end of 90s grunge to be had. In places there appear to be direct references to tunes of yore (I hear MBV, Queen and Foo Fighters, but I could well be bonkers…) and the addition of a new drummer and a guy called Cory Clark (who appears to be neither the American Idol scoundrel nor the guy from Warrior Soul) has clearly done them the world of good. If I was 14 years old and listening to this as I rode my bike to school this would pretty much be ruling my life, basically. And even though a lot of time has passed since I rode a bike or went to school, I would say that it’s still capable of doing so. Amazing!
Read an interview with Ô GES here