Often sounding like a David Grohl solo brainstorming session this LP from Bristol based Oxygen Thief will sound somewhat familiar to those who have been following this artist over his current course of strong, punchy EPs.
Opening with the lively and short introductory track Show Em Who’s Boss that throws his acoustic guitar from speaker to speaker, skipping and munching like Pac Man before lead track Modesty Is Dead kicks in with a twanging, hi-tempo rhythm that balances neatly with Oxygen Thief’s (aka Barry Dolan) bark. Lyrically it’s as free-wheeling as ever, Dolan’s obsession with tweaking common phraseology with dashes of wry, cheerfully bitter humour; ‘It’s a moment on the lips, but a lifetime in the shit.’
Mestle and Porter, for the experienced listener, is kind of Oxygen Thief by numbers, buoyed by the layering of Dolan’s vocals on the chorus, but the multi-tracked guitars are a flurry of sound that is defined more by its pauses than its tune. On the plus side, whilst there are certain sonic recollections of a host of other indie-rock artists, Oxygen Thief can always feel proud to sound, ultimately, like himself and nothing else. Lead single Terry Nutkins Salute benefits from a strong chorus wrapped around the lyrics; ‘The wood and trees were obvious for us to see.’
Followed by Camera Shy which cropped up on earlier EP Feed A Cold, Starve A Fever which is slightly more polished here, though lacking a little of the ealier version’s intensity. Words On Walls has some great nimble finger picking, adding a nervous, twitchy energy to the track, and even more surprisingly there’s a swirly synthy and saxophone-driven finale to the track which comes as a huge breath of fresh air and Dolan’s vocal soars as a result. It’s not a call for Dolan to ditch the solo style and turn Oxygen Thief into some sort of collective, but having in the past referred to his desire to be perceived as more ‘one man rock band’ than, say, a singer/songwriter, these kind of flourishes are invigorating and when carefully deployed such as this lend a richness and texture to the record and manage to keep the acoustic guitar sounding fresh by contrast.
The scruffy frenzy of Disaster Plan segues into a distant, quiet recording called Greater Aberystwyth which lends a sudden fit of pathos to proceedings before springboarding into the processed minimal drum-beat of Languages Our Specialism, off-set against rockabilly style guitar twiddling and Dolan hollering ‘We won the game by quitting!’
Moody guitar licks open Nice Night For A Neck Injury, the album’s second instrumental after Makoto Nagano, both nice showcases for how well Dolan can hold the interest with just his performance skills, this one serves as a strong introduction for closing track Al Done, Bye Bye opening with ‘This morning kicked me in the shins, the evening kicked me in the teeth’, it’s this kind of ramshackle attitude that has always been the best fit for Dolan’s playing, a certain stream of consciousness that fits his guitar which often sounds like it has a mind of its own and Dolan is just trying to keep up, hooting about whatever mishap has just occured or whatever social misnomer has peeked his ire. Fittingly it all builds with layer upon layer of vocals turning into a crowd of noise before coming to a close.
This LP lives and dies by the same strengths and flaws that have punctuated previous EPs, with some tracks still blurring into one another. For the uninitiated this is a great introduction to Dolan’s unique style, though there’s a slightly wobbly mid-section and a need for a bit more variety – that’s not to say more instruments though – but overall this is a fine record.
[Rating:3]
