Sunday Morning Coffee:: Oxen Talk

It all starts from a single snapshot in time. A grainy, sepia-toned photo slowly decomposing and breaking down or maybe a memory that you can’t get out of the recesses of your subconscious; regardless, it’s something triggered by a passing glance or unexpected word. In the case of O Mores!, the new EP from Montreal’s Oxen Talk, it’s a repeated intro on every track that gives the effort the feel of 8 different people looking at the same piece of art and slowly revealing their deeply personal story attached to it.

It’s almost impossible to think a straightforward grim tale like Dustbowl (complete with a slide whistle used to match the locomotive drumming nicely) comes from the same people that wrote the jazzy, horn influenced Seaside Sarcophagus or clanky Choblet, but the few simple guitar notes that start each track open and close each tale nicely. The band fuses moments of folk, chaos, gospel and even elements of a tropical troubadour, and the result is a theatrical collection of songs that is as grandiose as the costumes and jewelry that catches your eye on stage.

Not only does the old-timey, ramshackle style you hear on O Mores! take you back years, the theatrical music is full of the freedom of youth, where your ideas didn't have to fall inline with the most over sampled ideas and unexpected creativity was embraced not judged. This EP won't be for everyone, but the more you listen, the more the stories sink in and affect you.

MP3:: Oxen Talk - Choblet
MYSPACE:: http://www.myspace.com/oxentalk

Labels: Montreal, Music, Oxen Talk, Sunday Morning