By Jamie Alexander
4/7
King Krule’s new album, The Ooz, came out this past Friday. I’ll come out and say I’ve been a King Krule fan for a while. His first EP, King Krule, his first album, 6 Feet Beneath the Moon, and his third project where he goes by his real name, Archy Marshall, were so substantial in developing my music taste and becoming more open minded to new sounds. Enough about me though…
King Krule’s made a name for himself by combining jazz, punk, and hip hop into a beautiful and deep medley that leaves listeners in the aftermath of a whiplash from the best roller coaster they’ve ever ridden. These colliding sounds and his range in vocals flow together in a distinct way making him truly a unique talent.
All this being said, The Ooz was good but it did not measure up to his other work. The fluidity of it just wasn’t up to par and it felt very divided.
I definitely enjoyed the B side way more than the A side. Other than the opening song, "Biscuit Town", I could’ve gone without listening to much of the first 9 songs. They felt very forced and applied his voice into situations that didn’t quite fit with the song or his style.
That being said, some of the lyrics in songs like "Dum Surfer" and "Lonely Blue" save them from being duds.
From the 10th song, "Emergency Blip", to the last, "La Lune", the album does a 180. Songs like "Czech One", "Vidual", "Half Man Half Shark", and "The Ooz" feel more at home for King Krule but it was still fresh enough to not be a reproduction of his previous work.
He jumps back and forth from a buffer song to a more upbeat song on the second half that takes you down a winding road of magnificent sounds.
One of the buffers is "Bermondsey Bosom (Right)". This is a spoken verse song that uses past song titles to tie together a self-reflective message.
He ends the album strong and the second to last song, "Midnight 01 (Deep Sea Diver)" even includes a small snippet of the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia theme song.
Altogether The Ooz has some great songs that should be listened to but as an entire cohesive album it missed the mark.
