Odonis Odonis - Hollandaze



Originally starting off as a solo project, bandleader Dean Tzenos recruited Jared Gibson (Drums, Electronics, Vocals) and Denholm Whale (Bass, Vocals) to help him perfect his sound whilst on tour; then the buzz went through the roof with FatCat Records being quick to snap them up, adding them to their list of already impressive acts.

An early highlight of Toronto’s Odonis Odonis’ debut ‘Hollandaze’ is debut single ‘Busted Lip’ with its bumbling bassline and reverb turned up all the way to 11, it has the feel of Black Wire and the aggression of Big Black. Like Busted Lip before it ‘Blood Feast’ is a track with a bassline that just bounces along accompanied by enough reverb to keep any lo-fi shoegazing punk satisfied with the simple but effective drumbeat just hanging around.

‘Handle Bars’ is another highlight of the album, with a doff of the cap to early Queens of the Stone Age 3 minutes of boisterous bedlam. Elsewhere ‘Ledged Out’ makes the listener immediately aware of its brilliance with the beefy bass, pounding drums and high pitched guitar working cohesively to deliver a radiant lo-fi pop song.

You can clearly see the influences that have gone into Tzenos’ work but you never get the feeling that Odonis Odonis are out to just imitate with this lo-fi debut bound to make noise in more ways than one.

8/10

By Aaron Lewins