Oh No Ono
Eggs - Friendly Fire
FILTER Grade: 82%

The aptly named Danish outfit Oh No Ono build tension slowly in their demented carols, as if winding up a sinister jack-in-the-box that never pops. Their album Eggs was recorded in settings ranging from cathedrals to bathtubs, and has as broad of a stylistic range, evoking comparisons to both MGMT and Billy Corgan. But their grandiosity anchors the record.  Through the Middle Eastern firq violins in “Eleanor Speaks,” the haunted cathedral bells in the masterpiece “Swim,” and the childish choir in “The Tea Party,” crescendos balloon into a helium delirium. This is psychedelica at it’s cinematic best. To imagine the scenes that Oh No Ono illustrate, you don’t even need to watch the “Swim” music video by Adam Hashemi (although you should). They corrupt choirs with cold echoes and warp fairy tales. As they mount a song’s tension to its zenith, we discover jack was never in the box to begin with.