Thursday, September 18, 2014

Os Drongos on Bleeding Gold Records


The Google translation fo the bio on Os Drongos is poetry:

Sure they would have preferred to be limited to a single TV cast armed with a set of saucepans and dental floss. Then they would have with the wave postoperative soul so becoming in this kind of opportunity, interpreted this obscure Dublin tube of Farinelli Thirty Five entitled "Stop the motion." The trauma stoves pushed all costs deep in their brain, it remained only to step over the wall hospitalié. Its spring balm, the air seemed susurer all the lost walking to lose foot. Night fell on the forest. Buddy accompanied by Chief had ended up following what they described it as a kind of signal, a long distance call. Old debris shone white washed their eyes; the memory of a buried god demanded. Os promised the old settlers who sought, fever and freedom in the scene of his healthy cruelty.

I think it paints a picture of this mysterious surreal gang from Chambéry France with not many rules and certainly no restrictions when it comes to instrumentation or classification. They have a firm grip on some alternate reality and aren't letting go. Leave it to Bleeding Gold records to be just as intrigued and want to capture it.

A-Side's "Dancing Balloons" - Heavy clipped guitar work and gritty tones open this off kilter rickety riff with a gravelly vocal and a bassline that's bumping along, bouncing with nothing but percussion backup. The guitar takes tiny lines and expands them over a lot of backup harmony and fluttery indie directions. To me sounding like a lost Dog Day single, he's got the same vocal quality as Seth - maybe more processed and reaching for a higher chart but gets the unusual indie stuff completely right. Like Ted Leo or Spoon, Os Drongos is decisive in bold choices, clear as the day it was plugged into an 1/4" jack. Guitar sounds that have been exorcised and mulled over, a real crafted piece of pop which is sort of secondary with the number of clean expressions channelling through this one. Taking chances finding interesting rhythms with pieces that don't line up.

B-Side's rapid fire percussion on "Eager Son"... - uh this is at the wrong speed. I guess I should have known that if Bleeding Gold wasn't going to do a museum quality color pressing then they would go and force two different speeds. This DFA 1979 crunchy bass line plows along at a more reasonable pace with a wooden cowbell and phaser vocals getting closer to a power glam than the indie stuff on the reverse side. Not the beachy thing I'm looking at on the sleeve or the postcard I'll write my family while swimming in this murky layered juice. Sort of southern and skid rock with a heavier sound and snarly attitude. Layered chorus vocals stepping over himself with trains of melody but getting almost psych in this haze of effects and delay. Leaving room for "See my shanty" this second track's understated drum piece sounds is thin like the indie side, something more reasonable than the beast that came before it. Still under the thumb of the bass in line with that Dog Day sound again, it's got the perfect melody and upfront vocal that knows it, don't waste time going anywhere else. This hook is the thing that needs to be repeated with a slow reverb and slithering solo between verses but the eyes closed swaying bassline should stay right where it is. They know it when they got it.

Get this from Bleeding Gold Records

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