“We humans each possess a nature to repeat, yet with each repetition we grow more attuned,” says OOIOO founder and bandleader YoshimiO. “We don’t repeat in the same place; that repetition spirals upward, never landing in the same spot twice. We realize there is no stagnation on that path.” Truer words have rarely been spoken, particularly when referring to OOIOO, the experimental Japanese band that defies easy categorization. The same can be said for American noise rock duo Lightning Bolt, whose frenetic style combines cacophony with unexpected melodic twists. Fans of both groups can rejoice now that they have combined forces on a terrific new split release that brings out the best in both artists.
OOIOO‘s two long-form tracks make up the first half of THE HORIZON SPIRALS / THE HORIZON VIRAL, which brings together both the intense repetition of Krautrock and bursts of unpredictable twists. On “THE HORIZON”, OOIOO’s love of percussion-infused gamelan makes up the first half of the track, before a funkier, up-tempo side emerges, highlighting YoshimiO’s mesmerizing trumpet. The song’s unorthodox jazz leanings draw inspiration from Sun Ra Arkestra‘s Horizon, as much for its musical stylings as its refusal to stick to a specific musical path.
Meanwhile, “Gamel BE SURE TO SPIRAL” is a more direct combination of the band’s love of gamelan and the insistent rhythms of Krautrock. The song is something of a reimagining of OOIOO’s “Be Sure to Loop” (from their 1999 sophomore album Feather Float), greatly expanding it while moving slowly and gradually through slight, incremental musical variations.
Lightning Bolt, comprised of drummer/vocalist Brian Chippendale and bass guitarist Brian Gibson, takes over for side two, and their five pieces were arranged as a single suite, meant to be played all together, with each track serving as a movement. Opener “WAVERS” is a typically frenetic wave of noise, but in constant motion and offering an excellent interpretation of doom-laden experimental post-punk. “CLOUD CORE” continues along the same lines, but with wild, unpredictable time signatures that suggest Nine Inch Nails on a prog rock bender. That type of blind, gleeful pummeling continues on the relentless “THE RUNNERS 2”.
“WOW 13” is, among other things, an exercise in widescreen, unrelenting riffs (combined with Chippendale’s superhuman drumming), while album closer “HEADLESS HORSEFOLK” has a relatively restrained feel to it (emphasis on relatively) as the arrangement breathes a bit more, with a bizarre, all-over-the-place arrangement that sounds uncannily like early Captain Beefheart at his most creative and curious.
“OOIOO set the tone with THE HORIZON SPIRAL, but we didn’t really roll with the spiral theme,” says Chippendale. “We’re more Viral than Spiral, though they both can dump you in a rabbit hole, and we definitely like rabbit holes.” Clearly, OOIOO and Lightning Bolt—while fairly different bands, stylistically—seem to share a common mission: to create music that steadfastly refuses to accept any boundaries, and remain unique and gleefully wild. As THE HORIZON SPIRALS / THE HORIZON VIRAL proves, these two were made for each other.