ALBUM REVIEW: Obscured By A Setting Sun by Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man

Y'know, I very nearly let this one pass my by completely. Never have I been more affronted by shoddy mixing/production as I was upon attempt #1 at listening to this album. Ok, now I know that to most people, production values aren't at the forefront of their minds when listening to an album, and in fairness I'm usually the same. But when it's THIS bad, it really ruins the experience.

Muddy guitars, heavy-handed bass EQ, and an annoying filter on the vocal niegh ruin opener "If This Is A Man", to a point aproaching the "Unlistenable" category. Which is a shame, because it's probably the best on the record.

Once we push past this initial hurdle, does it get any better. Well, no. Not really.

The band's singer, one Frederik Blood-Royal, despite having a glourious 'tache, sounds about as pretentious as his name. He recalls ¡Forward, Russia!'s singer, without the charm or wide-eyed urgencey. Lyrically, he's spouting on about biblical scenes and "corporeal mortification"... you get the picture. Delivered by a good singer, I'd be prepared to credit this. Delivered by an infuriatingly bad singer..?

The band don't sound as orriginal as they would like to think. Aforementioned "If This Is A Man" sounds like it was stolen from The Mars Volta's discard pile, while elsewhere some Jimmy Paige-esque arpeggio' work against a backdrop of (gasp) cellos fails to really excite.

In short, there's nothing here that hasn't been done a lot better elsewhere. Admitedly not by such snappy dressers, but that aside, you'd be much better off spending your money elsewhere.

Cheers!
Chris/Audio Bigot
xx

p.s. Apologies for any spelling errors. I'm currently writing from an internet cafe in Greece... and because it costs a BOMB I don't yet have Word on this computer. Will update when I get home! OH and as promised, Animal Collective review is on the way. I'm still making my mind up...