O'Death – Outside

Initially, O’Death’s third full-length on City Slang comes across as an uncharacteristically conventional release for the label. The New York quintet’s previous releases married Appalachian folk with a raw energy that placed them, however obliquely, within the city’s punk lineage. Outside, however, is a more subtle, measured record; but also a more intense one. Banjo, fiddle and overdriven guitar comprise the bulk of the sound, which is characterised by sparse, spacious atmospheres, occasionally building to raucous crescendos.

Alamar evokes the swaggering, gothic intensity of Nick Cave circa-Let Love In, all dark, twisted fairytale. Other highlights, like Ourselves and closer The Lake Departed, use layers of clattering, distorted percussion in a way that recalls Tom Waits’ more rambunctious moods. The overall impression is of a band that might be relatively straightforward in their songcraft, but who use aesthetics to make those songs enticingly dark and strange – and certainly not conventional. [Sam Wiseman]