“Minimalism with its finger in a socket...a pure jolt of arty New York intransigence.” – The New York Times
“Brooklyn’s finest art-rock band...their muscular, maximal minimalism can provoke awe, hypnosis, or profound irritation.” - The Village Voice
“No matter how frazzled they get, the whole package packs a hard punch that can only be rock and roll. But, this being Oneida, we don’t know what comes next. That’s what keeps us coming back.” – The Quietus
“Through a dozen albums, they’ve covered a daunting amount of territory, darting between rock, noise, psych, drone, electronics and minimalism...there’s no ‘basic’ Oneida sound, and if so that’s part of what’s made them such an interesting and unpredictable band.” – Pitchfork
After a nearly 5 year break from the studio, Oneida has returned with “Town Crier,” a compact blast of pure energy and organ riffage that shows the band in full-on rock mode. The legendary Brooklyn group will release the song exclusively on an upcoming single, “Town Crier” b/w “Pariah,” their first widely-available recording for their new label Joyful Noise Recordings. The track premiered this morning via Noisey, along with an interview with the group’s organ guru Bobby Matador. The single is out tomorrow, November 10th, and will be followed by a full-length in 2018.
The single is arranged in a classic 7’ A/B relationship, where the A-side presents an open face (maybe with a fading black eye?), and the B-side hides its intentions behind a brooding implacability – to quote Jens Lekman, the “evil B-side sister.”
“Town Crier” was recorded and mixed by Oneida. A tightly wound, pugnacious rocker, it shares a lineage with similar tunes from 2004’s Secret Wars, and disc two of Rated O (2009).
“Paraiah” was recorded and mixed by Colin Marston at Menegroth, the Thousand Caves. It’s an abstract instrumental that mines the elemental stais-and-release dynamics most fully explored on the group’s last full-length, 2012’s A List of the Burning Mountains.
Oneida was formed in Brooklyn, NY in 1997; the group has performed and recorded extensively/consistently as an ensemble for twenty years. Oneida’s discography of releases includes twelve full-length studio recordings released by Jagjaguwar Records, as well as a number of limited releases, short works, and live performances available in a variety of formats.
Oneida’s music embraces ensemble improvisation, electronic composition, minimalism, and a range of folk- and rock-based vernacular elements.
Beginning in 1999 Oneida instituted a tradition of performing in nontraditional urban spaces including warehouses, vacant theatres and storefronts, parking lots and garages, boats, and industrial facilities. This performance habit continues today. The group is also known for extended, continuous improvisational performances that can reach upward of 10 uninterrupted hours, and for an ongoing collaborative ethos that has resulted in performances with musicians from all corners of music.
In 2006 Oneida built and opened The Ocropolis, a recording studio/performance space in Brooklyn NY where they recorded their own work, performed publicly, and worked in collaboration with numerous other musicians and the visual artists of the Secret Project Robot gallery and projection collective. The Ocropolis closed in 2011 when the waterfront building, known as Monster Island, was scheduled for demolition. It is currently a pile of rubble.
Oneida has worked since the demise of Monster Island in a warehouse studio space in Bushwick, Brooklyn; this was shared with Secret Project Robot until the fall of 2016, when the gallery announced a hiatus. Oneida remains in the building along with a number of associated artists.
Pre-order “Town Crier” b/w “Paraiah”: http://joyfulnoi.se/TownCrier
Oneida assets are available HERE.