The Ooz

by King Krule

Overview

Archy Marshall debuted as Zoo Kid when he was an actual kid and released his acclaimed first album -- under the presumably self-bestowed title King Krule -- before he turned 20. Marshall continued work on new material for years but was displeased with it, save for a set of mumbling-in-a-bucket hip-hop blues, A New Place 2 Drown, credited to his off-stage name. The Ooz, the artist's second King Krule album, surfaced -- or is that seeped out? -- four years after the first one. Compared to the debut, the songwriting is more refined and the sounds are more disparate, resulting in a sort of controlled chaos, a scuzzy mix of nervy neo-rockabilly projectiles, howling dirges, and noodling dive-lounge tunes. It's further distinguished with saxophonist Ignacio Salvadores' writhing bleats, continually in support of Marshall's scraggly guitar work and variety of voices, as liable to sound like his slumped natural self as an exaggeration of growling punks like the Clash's Paul Simonon or the Ruts' Malcolm Owen. Clear references are made to Marshall's previous full-lengths, and repeated allusions to water -- as in sinking -- as well as blue as a color and feeling, are likewise threaded throughout. Damp, suffocating city streets are never distant. When Marshall retreats to physical solitude, he can't leave his head -- not even with a prescription, a situation related in a whirling frenzy of insomniac agitation titled, naturally, "Emergency Blimp." Marshall is just as expressive and evocative when he keeps it guttural; "She smoked me whole and blows out Os," over decayed, dispirited bossa nova, passes like a wisp but could be the album's emotional center. Details that seem to provide levity -- "Man this band that's playin', is playing fucking trash" among them -- have a way of heightening the sense of inescapable dread. No matter that feeling, illustrated with one distressed scene after another, filtered through a multitude of inspirations and a few bodily fluids, The Ooz is a completely engrossing work from a one-off. ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	10/13/2017
Label:	True Panther Sounds
UPC:	0744861612612
Rank:	5424

Tracks

1. Biscuit Town
2. The Locomotive
3. Dum Surfer
4. Slush Puppy
5. Bermondsey Bosom [Left]
6. Logos
7. Sublunary
8. Lonely Blue
9. Cadet Limbo
10. Emergency Blimp
11. Czech One
12. A Slide In (New Drugs)
13. Vidual
14. Bermondsey Bosom [Right]
15. Half Man Half Shark
16. The Cadet Leaps
17. The Ooz
18. Midnight 01: Deep Sea Diver
19. La Lune

Album Credits

Performance Credits

King Krule   Primary Artist,Bass,Drums,Guitar,Vocals,Vocoder,Keyboards
Dilip Harris   Marimba,Triangle,Percussion,Vibraphone,Synthesizer
Andy Ramsay   Percussion
James Wilson   Bass
Adam Marshall   Spoken Word,Vocals (Background)
Marc Pell   Bongos,Tambourine
Idris Vicuna   Spoken Word
George Bass   Drums
Nana Giobbi   Piano
Maya Coline   Vocals (Background)
Maria Dmetriev   Spoken Word
Jack Towell   Guitar
Ignacio Salvadores   Saxophone
Beatriz Ortiz Mendes   Spoken Word
Ella Rimmer   Vocals (Background)
Okay Kaya   Vocals

Technical Credits

Dilip Harris   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Andy Ramsay   Engineer,Drum Programming
Barry Grint   Mastering
Heinz Kiessling   Composer
King Krule   Producer
Archy Marshall   Composer,Engineer
Connor Atanda   Engineer
Kaya Wilkins   Composer
Senor Al Funkelinos   Engineer