O. harken back to the late-’00s era of power duos in indie rock—grungier bands like Japandroids and No Age arguably inheriting the dance-punk torches of Death From Above 1979 and Matt & Kim—with a much more ambitious sense of experimentation. For one thing, none of the music they’ve released so far features vocals; for another, Tash Keary’s drumming is paired with Joe Henwood’s baritone sax rather than guitar or bass. The result, as you can imagine, is mystifying both in its originality and in its fullness. Think Colin Stetson joining Battles, or playing on HEALTH’s Get Color.
The duo’s debut album WeirdOs is set to arrive this summer, and the singles so far further the art-punk agenda established by last fall’s Slice EP. The latest track we get to hear, “Micro,” pushes things even further into the realm of experimentation as the alien sounds of Henwood’s single-reed instrument riff over Keary’s live breakbeat. “Jump up drum and bass which features the strangest sax sound on the album,” the band shares of the single. “We had a lot of fun processing the instruments with Dan Carey’s modular synths and outboard gear to push the limits of our acoustic instruments.”
Check out the video for the track below, which appropriately presents the band on a stage aesthetically akin to whatever Moulin Rouge!-ass visual palette The Dresden Dolls, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, and the “Float On” video were all pulling from.
