CICADA OMEGA, These Bones (Self-Released)
[DIRTY BLUES ROCK] Plenty of bands over the past two decades have tried to mesh some essence of deep Southern blues with their own suburban, white influences—Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Spacemen 3 and the Talking Heads, to name just a few. Fewer still are the groups that manage to pull it off with any degree of authenticity. Here in Portland, blues duo Hillstomp and gospel crusaders the Builders and the Butchers probably come as near as any band from the Northwest could. But Cicada Omega is running very close behind.
Fronted by Rev. B.D. Winfield, the local quartet has proven itself a live act to be reckoned with—leaving audiences (and the members themselves) shaken and sweaty by the end of their howling, fiery performances. And it’s already captured that essence on a pair of self-released live recordings, but now Cicada’s taken its revivalist fervor into the studio for first proper full-length These Bones. As to be expected, the songs lose a little steam in the translation—but the music still fumes and spouts with a surfeit of wild-eyed energy.
What sells the entire album is how ugly it sounds. The guitars vary between a muffled, wool-blanket tone and a warped quality that sounds like Winfield strung his ax with copper telephone wire. And the vocals sound as if Winfield were tied to the mast of a ship, railing at the waves of sound crashing over him with Beefheartian fury—particularly on rave-up “Last Night” and simmering trance-blues number “Ring Like Gold.” It’s the drums and percussion (duties shared by Dave Rue and Salim Sundiata Sanchez) that come off unnecessarily clean, saved only when matched up with the sounds of clanging metal (courtesy of Sanchez’s kitchenware percussion) and heavy-footed stomping that mark several tracks.
By the end of Bones, Cicada Omega seems absolutely spent; as such, the closing few numbers—particularly the final, title track—feel lackadaisical when compared with the lean, hopped-up songs that precede them. But it seems an almost necessary end, a bit of a cushion for listeners to drop onto after shaking their way through the rest of the album. Considering the aesthetic of the band’s live show, though, it would’ve made a lot more sense to leave listeners in a heap at the end, sweaty and begging for more. ROBERT HAM.
SEE IT: Cicada Omega celebrates the release of These Bones Friday, June 6, with Sassparilla and Bark Hide and Horn at Dante’s. 9:30 pm. $6. 21+.
Peter
says:It’s odd to compare Cicada Omega to bands that “mesh some essence of deep Southern blues with their own suburban, white influences—Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Spacemen 3 and the Talking Heads” (three bands obviously not from the South), considering that the entire band hails from Kentucky, and not all of them are white. I don’t see the relevance in labeling C.O. as the Third Most Authentic Southern Blues Influenced Band In Portland. Knowing these guys and their backgrounds, it seems silly to bring up the notion of authenticity at all.
Posted @ June 4th, 2008 at 11:38 pm (June 4th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkMartin
says:I have to agree with Peter above, these are not inauthentic suburban white folk.
I get the sense that there’s a loose connection with the punk ethic that’s present on the album, and notable in the band’s live energy, and the association with “white” music … especially in Portland. It’s not a compliment or a criticism, more a statement of tendency. But it does seem a little off base to use some of the references Mr Ham makes in the article.
But hell, good for Cicada Omega. Draw a little controversy and have people think twice about the music they’re listening to. It’s not a common sound and a second listen, which served me well, may do the album’s listener a great service.
Posted @ June 6th, 2008 at 1:05 pm (June 4th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkbob pearce
says:Dear sir,
For the record, there is nothing “suburban” about Cicada Omega. They didn’t grow up watching MTV and skateboarding to private school everyday. They grew up in places like Devil’s Elbow in the honeysuckle and locust lands of Kentucky. Country. And not just country, wild and weird country.
Cicada Omega did not discover roots music in some art-school library, but from hearing the music of crickets and mosquitos in the tobacco fields and swamps at night. They learned to appreciate roots music because it is their roots, Hank Williams and hard work. The scary backwoods sound is not a suburban approximation of the music of the south or a purist’s regurgitation of old records stolen from a library. The rhythms and melodies of the Cicada Omega sound come from listening closely to the natural sounds of Kentucky and of modern life, an organic progression of sound.
They play along with the rhythms of and tune their instruments to the pulse of the earth that a suburban, video-game fed bumper sticker philosopher has no ear for hearing and no soul for expressing. The power of cicada omega is that they bring that real ghost of the Trail of Tears, Dark and Bloody Ground sound (from the ground up without distortion or compromise of vision) to those who have been deprived of such a contact with timelessness.
The refreshing strange familiarity of cicada omega is the real deal. Let the record reflect such.
thank you,
Robert Pearce,
Posted @ June 7th, 2008 at 10:54 pm (June 4th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkMemphis Tn.
Tom Merritt
says:This review pisses me off. Cicada Omega is one of the few acts in town with a wiggle that matches their walk. When I opened the paper today and saw that you relegated this review to the web, I was mad. Now that I’ve read the review, in all of its sloppy sloth (does anyone edit for grammar?), I understand why it was left off WW’s pages.
I like Hillstomp and the B&B’s, but their “blues” is like Bix Biederbecke’s “jazz”: lacking in authenticity. Cicada Omega is the real deal, in every way.
Posted @ June 8th, 2008 at 9:53 am (June 4th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkRenee
says:Careful Portland! “These Bones” has lit a wildfire here in Kentucky and we might just steal Cicada Omega back!!!!
Posted @ June 10th, 2008 at 3:15 pm (June 4th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinks.c. farley
says:If anyone could take an ax and string it with copper telephone wire ~ to then achieve a musical sound with said instrument ~ it would surely be Rev. B.D. Winfield! I personally have seen him play a small marimba constructed from some African wood, weathered gourds, and probably monkey fur.
As to the question of “authenticity” posed by the author of this review, well ~ there is no question. In like manner of the philosophical mantra “I think, therefore I am,” Cicada Omega plays, therefore they are. And they produce a sound, which (for all of it’s “ugly, warped quality, and unnecessary cleanliness”) is quite unique … though I am sure the group appreciates being placed in league with The Talking Heads … for, in a world of mainstream music that is full of so much predictable fodder, it’s about time a new band came along to “stop making sense” once again.
Posted @ June 11th, 2008 at 6:31 pm (June 4th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalink