Formerly Young Sensations, Exeter five piece Ono Palindromes changed their name when people failed to see the wit in their “erudite” moniker. In a recent interview with Artrocker, frontman Andy Death attributed the irony of the name to a satirical poke at the indie scene’s style over content and pseud; the general public, however, took the name literally, thinking they were some sort of Simon Cowell shrink-wrapped boy band. Shame on you public, never judge a book by its cover, even if it is dressed-up like Duncan from Blue and all you want to do is piss on its preface. So, Ono “We wanted something so opaque that people could bring their own imagination to the table” Palindromes’ debut offering, ‘Kitty Magic’ EP, is open for debate.
Art-rock is esoteric at best, but Ono have managed to amalgamate its roots with a sustaining blend of psych, new wave punk and electro-pop to produce a conceptual love child that will be endeared to by those who are inclined. Opener ‘Kitty Magic’ throbs with the austere rhythm of a locomotive in full flight with Death’s vocal at the helm screaming “We don’t need no part-time poets, part-time popes, part-time nobodies” in a Lydon circa-PIL fashion, and ‘Eat Your Make Up’ builds with punchy death to disco guitars, and swirls of electronic synth in a Pixies/Talking Heads crossbreed.
“Solfuk” and “The End”, however, do drip heavily from a canvas of art-rock pretension with abstruse sound and vision that can appear laughable after a few listens, otherwise tainting what is a laudable debut of experimental ambition.
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