OOIOO
Gamel
Thrill Jockey
Street: 07.01
OOIOO = Boredoms + Animal Collective + Enon

Japanese band OOIOO’s music generally seems born of the holy union of twitchy ADHD indie punk, 30 floor toms and a whole lot of cocaine—or something. However, for their latest offering, they have decided to go a different direction and incorporate traditional Indonesian Gamelan music into their sound. The result is a sometimes fun and playful, sometimes irritating record that really pushes the limits of what is considered an indierock album. Rather than a collection of distinct songs, this record feels like a whacked-out sound collage of drums, bells, yelping and noisy guitars. Gamel feels less like something you enjoy and more like a curiosity to show your university World Music 101 class. Maybe I just don’t “get it,” but despite how fun it probably was to make, this album isn’t very fun to listen to.
–Alex Gilvarry