GOLD & GREEN

OOIOO is a Japanese avant-garde band that aren't afraid to experiment with their sound and try new things and different styles. Led by Yoshimi P-We, the female drummer of the Japanese avant/noise rock band Boredoms, this band is one of the rare examples of an all female band. They tend not to repeat themselves with each album they release. With Gold and Green we see OOIOO making a Krautrock and Space Rock album with many ethnic influences and wide variety of instruments all of this combined with an OOIOO touch to make things fun.

The first thing one listens when the album starts is some tribal sounding percussions and after a few seconds we hear them disappear into an echo. That's only a hint of things to come. The first two songs sound like introduction to the album, although they aren't really special, they help you get into the whole atmosphere of the album. By the third song, Grow sound tree, you'll dive head first into OOIOO's trip! Trippy synth effects, psyched out melodies and a nice drumming backing it all up nicely. After that song the whole albums keeps up with the same trippy atmosphere, but with variety in every song. The first song that shows the quirkiness of OOIOO is I'm A Song which starts with a bang and it's pretty fun to listen to. They're a band that's never trying to be boring and they always sound like they're having fun with their music. Having said that it doesn't mean the album is excellent. Despite all the fun they have and the good songs in the album there are still weak moments. Some songs just aren't that interesting or the songs that sounded fun at the moment (Unu, Idbi and others) get a bit tiresome after repeated listens and the novelty wears off.

This album has great potential, but the bad moments are pushing it down. If you're a fan of ethnic influenced space rock then this will appeal to you, but don't expect anything mind blowing.