Oneida
Romance

The statement that Oneida has never missed a beat is certainly exaggerated, but one cannot deny that they have managed to "mark the territory" and establish a recognizable sound of their own, in a way few other bands have done in the last twenty years, even while renewing and experimenting over time. In their case, being leading figures of a certain New York counterculture and linked to an indie aesthetic has not been a limitation but rather a way to reinterpret psychedelic sounds derived from kraut influences (how could we not mention Can...) in a modern and easily accessible way, and this is a great merit.

With this premise, I can say that I approached this album particularly relaxed: honestly, I didn't expect them to pull out the typical white rabbit from the hat, and between highs and lows, "Romance" (Joyful Noise Recordings) fully confirms my expectations. I mean, it's not a bad album (though it's not destined to be one of the best moments within their discography): the quality of the sounds is generally very good, and there are a lot of interesting cues like the typical obsessive psychedelic trips of "Bad Habit" or "Reputation," the dub groove of the ten minutes of "Lay of the Land" where it transitions from "Oxygène" dimensions through the typically kraut percussion system, and in this regard, it's impossible not to mention a track like "Good Cheer" where Kid Millions (in my opinion, one of the best drummers around) definitely offers the best of himself.

The main problem, however, lies in the lack of "intent" unity. After the "diaspora" from the historic Ocropolis Studios in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the group lost an important reference, and the recording sessions took place in a fragmented and unconventional manner: starting right at the Ocropolis Studios in 2011, these sessions continued at the Menegroth Studios in Queens over the years. The eighteen minutes of "Sheperd's Axe," recorded in Spain in Barcelona, are certainly interesting, for example, but they could practically constitute a standalone recording. Instead, here we are in front of a double LP lasting almost eighty minutes in which Oneida asks too much of the listeners, and one would even like to be, how to say, devoted to the cause, but it is not quite clear what this cause is and if they themselves have identified one.