Brooklyn's Obits are Rick Froberg (Hot Snakes, Drive Like Jehu, Pitchfork), Sohrab Habibion, Greg Simpson, and Scott Gursky. In December 2008, they released their first single, "One Cross Apiece" b/w "Put It In Writing" on their own Stint Records label. This is their debut full-length.
A**N
Five Stars
thanks got it 3 months ago
M**N
Garage Punk Metal is Good
From my frame of reference, these guys fall somewhere between Fun House era Stooges and Fugazi. They are angry young men, rocking out hard. Throw in a little Link Wray(50's,60's guitar god), some Seeds, some Sonics,(garage metal groups from the 60's, get the Nuggets Box set, you'll be glad you did.) then hold on, your in for a wild ride. I've listened to this cd a couple of weeks straight, and haven't felt the need to take it out of the cd player yet. It isn't instantly accesible, but like most great albums, it takes work by the listener, and soon my brain wanted to digest every nuance of this album. I give it 5 stars because its in a league with "Nevermind", by Nirvana, or "Wild Gift" ,by X, "Repeater" by Fugazi,"Psycho Babble" by That Petrol Emotion, "Fun House" by The Stooges or whatever. Thanks "Musicheads" for the tip.
G**E
No Originality
On their debut, "I Blame You" Brooklyn based Obits revel in guitar rock rooted in the late 1970's. Fronted by Rick Froberg (ex of Drive Like Jehu & Hot Snakes); Obits also feature Sohrab Habibion, Greg Simpson and Scott Gursky cranking out tunes that sound like a bizarre amalgamation between Television, CCR and 70's era Roky Erickson.On album opener, "Widow Of My Dreams" the band channels a mysterious twangy reverb drenched guitar riff while raising the ghost of a certain Two Headed Dog. I liked "Two-Headed Coin" better when it was called "Commotion" from Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Green River" album. Band leader Froberg isn't worried about originality so much as he states on their band page, "I think innovation is overrated and an overestimated quality. Anything that's going to be original is going to happen without your control. Things that make your band sound like you, are things you wouldn't be able to change anyway. We just go ahead and play the stuff we like, and we don't worry about originality per se, because that takes care of itself."With that being said, "I Blame You" acknowledges its shameless borrowing and makes no claims that you're going to hear anything other than some tunes. I did like their cover of Kokomo Arnold's "Milk Cow Blues" as it was transformed from twang to a guitar squall. "I Blame You" features some cool guitar riffs and melodies, it just needs a little more personality of its own.
H**!
Frodon et sa bande!
Nouveaux venus dans le paysage musical? Oui et non! Car même si les OBITS nous offrent leur premier album, les quatres américains, la quarantaine naissante, ne sont pas des débutants. Mais bon! Passons sur ce "I blame you" accueilli, en général, chaleureusement par les critiques.Perso, je serais plus réservé et moins élogieux que certains pour définir le contenu de cet opus, même si globalement ça reste positif! Certes, ils n'ont rien inventé, néanmoins c'est direct, dynamique (dû notamment au jeu de basse), il y a des riffs à tout và et on entend également une influence sixties donnant de par le fait un son assez "vintage". Les titres les plus efficaces "Window of my dreams", "Run" et surtout "Two-headed coin" sont de véritables tueries!!!Seulement, pour le reste, il manque un p'tit quelque chose. Disons, qu'on s'ennuie un peu mais sans que cela soit rédhibitoire! Toutes les chansons ne sont pas du même ordre et c'est bien dommage! Voilà, faites-vous même votre opinion, ce sera plus simple!!!(lol)Quand à la pochette vraiment affreuse, elle a cependant le mérite de se faire remarquer!5/10*
