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Oars: Oars
CD: Oars
by Zak Winters
With that ancient Chinese proverb “A Picture is worth a thousand words” in mind, I stare at the cover of The Oars‘ new self titled album. What looks like an abstract painting done by Vasily Kandinsky with its brightly colored images begging you to define its inexpressible theme, is the perfect first impression for the music of Oars.
The artists that make up this avant-garde masterpiece are Erin Earl Muehlen Bach and David Bratton, who both met and soaked up the tides of the late 90′s Seattle Art-Rock scene before moving to Brooklyn’s art community, Bushwick, in 2007.
Once they settled into their heat-less basement studio in the vibrant community, they began writing, recording and performing to a receptive city. Their self-titled album is the accumulation of the sounds produced both in Seattle and Brooklyn, but more importantly the musicians seem to have a pure love for all the outsiders of music through the 20th Century.
David Bowie and Talking Heads are a favorite for the boys to throw around as a influence, but I would certainly have to add Sonic Youth and Mike Patton’s Mr. Bungle to the sounds like category. Opening the album is the song Black Eyes, a perfect choice to ease a casual listener into their bizarre concoction of off kilter rhythms and out-of-the-blue sound changes.
With a fast paced electronic drum beat, synthesizers melodies reminiscent of Japanese anime, and slowed only by individually plucked guitar strings that help ground the song as a whole. The album continues on with the songsStained and Our Attachments which is comfortably close to The Postal Service with its electro-pop styling.
But just when you thought you had The Oars all figured out, they throw you for a loop with their indie single Special Delivery. Infectious melodies purposely meant to reverberate in your head until you’re singing the harmonies of this party anthem bring the song’s lyrics to life. If, when this song takes you over, your not singing or dancing you can always add a helping hand to the clap traps programmed into the percussion loop.
The album also takes another turn with the song Good Company. It opens with a funky guitar chop that leads into vocals heavy on Prince’s signature high note styling and a refrain of “If you want to hang out for awhile, I’ll drop everything else” taken from the lead of The Purple One.
The last real song on the album is Junkshine which is a constructed sonic landscape of synthesized sounds that sway moods like sand blowing in the wind. Over this controlled noise, words are belted out and blended with dizzying pianos and unidentified stringed instruments before slowly fading into a 40-second closer called S.D. Reprise that winds down and captures the sad feeling you get when a dreamlike party comes to an end.
Like entering a pool filled with cold water, you may just need to immerse yourself to acclimate to what the boys from Oars are up to on this release but when you do, you’ll find that its actually quite inviting.
Catch up with Oars on any of the following: