On their tour’s sixth stop , musical trio Odonis Odonis of Toronto Canada made their way down to humble ol’ Athens, GA to grace us all …well, all 50 of us or so…with their very polite presence. Okay, I might be postulating here, but they did seem like a very nice bunch – and well dressed, I might add. The drummer’s hat/sock combination was on point.
Anyhow, we the audience were on the winning end of this deal. Though the weather wasn’t so welcoming- it was the annoying kind of rain that evenly mists your entire body until you’re just uncomfortable enough – the bartender at the warm and inviting venue known as World Famous fixed me up a drink, and I forgot all about my soggy socks. The line-up consisted of a dynamic list, starting with Athens based band Muuy Biien, and also including Vincas and Gorgeous in addition to Odonis Odonis.
Word is Odonis Odonis, consisting of members Jarod Gibson, Denholm Whale and lead by Dean Tzenos, is a band that has been progressively moving through a series of changes to soften their hard edges since the release of their 2011 album, Hollandaze; I speculate this hearsay has something to do with their new album’s name: Hard Boiled Soft Boiled, which was released April 15th through Canadian label Buzz. Their music has been described as being anywhere on the spectrum of “a punch in the gut” to “sunkissed shoe gaze” to “euphoric”.
Regardless of formal categorization of their genre, it was clear to us that Friday night caught them at just the right point on the continuum- I’ll just say that the ratio of head swaying to head banging was pretty perfectly balanced.
As for my personal experience, I’ll start by making up some phrases to classify the feelings I had while listening to and watching Odonis Odonis under the warm red stage lighting (it was consistent for all the bands but somehow felt perfectly catered to Odonis Odonis’ performance). The band started rowdily and worked up to my personal favorite track titled “Are We Friends,” a super catchy, colorful, head-nod provoking club tune that gives you an anarchistic attitude. By the end of it, you’ll feel way cooler than you are. At least I did.
They must have figured they’d lead us slowly into their heavier material, because the early impressions I garnered included notions of what would call “glamorous zombie rock” – think the melodies of The Strokes times 10 mixed with notes of punk, a little synthesized screaming and isolated lyrics that undulate between forceful and serious and then return to a melodic echo.
The moments of pure synchronicity in the audience, largely brought on by electronic waves, promoted some major body flow movements by the guy behind me who was NOT afraid to hit me repeatedly with his long flowing locks. Needless to say, Odonis Odonis provided a good time for us lucky bunch of Athenians. If word spreads like I think it will, the next time they roll through, we should expect a pretty big crowd overflow.
The tour has Odonis Odonis in Arkansas next, then Illinois, and then over to Europe. This may be a far stretch, but after seeing them live I wouldn’t be opposed to a short backpacking excursion to catch them in France. Anyone want to tag along?
Hard Boiled Soft Boiled is available on iTunes , but you can hear several tracks as well as tour info on their website or catch them on Soundcloud . Don’t forget to scroll down to enjoy a super-sick video titled “Order in the Court” from the new album, where some serious geniuses have paired the track with animation from Netherlandish painting master Hieronymus Bosch’s most ambitious painting titled “Garden of Earthly Delights.” Props to Odonis Odonis for their use of this monumental piece of art history. God, they’re so cultured.
Aubrey Mascali is wanna-be fairy trapped in a human body who is intrigued by tiny things and collections of nature stuffs. She enjoys rainy days with a nice cup of tea and cuddling with her dog Nemo. Currently living and attending school at UGA in Athens GA, you can usually find her doing cliche townie things like thrifting for vintage dresses, walking through the local farmers market, and drinking mimosas at brunch. Aubrey’s keen on meeting new people and hearing their stories. If she were a color, she hopes it would be pink, and if she were music she’d want it to sound like Architecture in Helsinki on a good day and Grimes on a weird day. In her capacity as an art student, she enjoys taking photos, painting, weaving behind a loom or spending countless hours doing five year old art projects like gluing rocks to paper. She is currently working on her thesis exhibition which will be on view at the Lamar Dodd School of art in May 2015.