O. - Slice

Released: 24/11/23

The London-based duo O. make one hell of a glorious racket “ kind of like a dub-adjacent Big Business, if they swapped out vocals for a downright filthily distorted baritone saxophone. Joseph Henwood takes care of that instrument, while Tash Keary beats seven shades of shit out of her drums, and the result, in the form debut EP Slice, is one of the most thrilling instrumental avant-rock records of the last few years. An important factor is undoubtedly that the pair recorded the EP fully live together in a room “ another being that the room in question belongs to the formidable producer Dan Carey (Wet Leg, Franz Ferdinand, Squid, Black Midi, and many more), who masterfully added an array of post-production tricks, making full use of his enviable selection of vintage dub production units. Muscular and visceral, but never po-faced, I actually think that O. would make for a humdinger of a wedding band “ save for the fact that they'd very likely give your Auntie Karen a heart attack.