Lee’s Listening Stack – OAX – ‘This Distance’
OAX
This Distance
(Bladen County Records)
OAX, the nom de plume of multi-instrumentalist Giorgio Angelini, makes an auspicious debut with a five-song EP that emphasizes some darker designs. With incidental aid from Spoon’s Jim Eno and occasional collaborator Chris Simpson, Angelini rumbles his way through various degrees of upheaval. There’s seemingly a lot of ground covered between the sweeping, screeching opening volley of “Pretty Good Start” and the sturdy strum of closing track “Sutures,” but the storm clouds that hang heavy over this effort overall rarely recede in-between. The best songs are those that breathe a bit more life — specifically, the elastic pulse that propels “Love and Crashing” and the rollicking rhythm that buoys “Scoundrel.” Ultimately This Distance doesn’t go far enough in defining OAX’s MO, so it remains to be seen what OAX will offer further on. — Lee Zimmerman
Lee Zimmerman is a contributor to a variety of publications, including Blurt, M Music & Musicians, New Times, Goldmine and Amplifier
This review appears courtesy of Amplifier, 50,000 Watts of Non-Stop Indie Rock http://amplifiermagazine.blogspot.com/