Although Brooklyn's ONEIDA have been plying their trade with regularity since their inception in 1997, "Secret Wars"( their first album for Rough Trade) is this writer's first time swimming out into their exotic, deep waters and - on returning - he feels exhilarated, but not a little shaken by the riptides their furious sonic whirlpools whip up.
Oneida's music has previously brought comparisons (that the band apparently don't like) with uncompromising acts like The Birthday Party and the Butthole Surfers and - at least on the basis of "Secret Wars" - its' sheer, gleeful intensity is not for the faint-hearted. Also, if you're not attracted by the rhythmic discipline of the best of the Krautrockers, then you'll probably struggle here, as Oneida play brutal, tribal music that takes few prisoners along the way and makes few concessions to pop.
Sometimes, this can be a good thing. Opener "Treasure Plane," for instance, pits bouncy, carnival organs with martial drums and Neu! style pulsing and is very good indeed, as is "Caesar's Column" where buzzing Moogs are joined by Gongs/ gamelan (come on down, 23 Skidoo!) to chaotic, unsettling effect.
Later on, your reviewer can understand the Buttholes comparisons on the overheating, acid-flecked "Captain Bo Dignifies The Allegations With A Response", while "$50 Tea" kicks up a rhythmically-challenged storm that's frantic, frenetic and close to early Can. Perhaps best of all, though, is "Wild Horses", which - thankfully - isn't the Stones one, but is actually an expansive, strung-out piece with more electric guitar than usual and a wicked, mantra-style execution.
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More of this would be great, but latterly Oneida push things too far off the scale for this writer's liking. "The Last Act, Every Time", for starters, is far too cacophonous, crossing weird, oriental guitar motifs with stabs or organ/ mellotron, while "The Winter Shaker" is little more than synapse-snapping repetition and loses me very early on.
Final track "Changes In The City", meanwhile, only pushes things further still, and despite some incredible drumming and psychedelic inflections, the experimentation palls as the track hits the five minute mark and you long for them to attack something less wilfully obscure, however cathartic the band's playing.
"Secret Wars," then, ends in detente between the band and listener. Oneida certainly have some good ideas and plenty of bravery in executing their set pieces, ensuring that hardcore fans will continue to defect to their cause. However, even the subterfuge, intrigue and dead letter drops can't disguise the fact there's a lack of decent tunes here and until they improve on that, Oneida will remain a cult item fighting behind their own, self-imposed lines.
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