Oneida: Preteen Weaponry

A particular keyboard sound

used to menace a lot of Oneida songs, pulsing and overheating like a hail of

casino marquees. It becomes more of a beacon in the gloom of Preteen

Weaponry's first track, as the trio

spreads its might around, letting some of it linger and steam in the

background, some of it drift to the front, and much of it wander the spaces

between. The foreground often gets crowded on this incessantly experimental

group's records, so this

continuous 39-minute piece, mostly instrumental and divided up into three

tracks, comes as something of a relief.

Oneida's feedback and static

roar in the distance through much of "Preteen Weaponry Part 1," then congeal

into gobs that burp and rumble forth throughout "Part 2." Kid Millions'

drumming moves the record along as much as any other element, tumbling

ominously through the beginning, slowing down at the center, and kicking the

finale to a bright conclusion full of glitches and clicks. As the atonal

flurries build up, Oneida keeps prodding them all into suspense and shading, a

fine compliment to the somber guitar and key melodies that plod through "Part

1." More than ever, it's clear that Oneida's vision goes beyond mere walls or

pools of sound. On Preteen Weaponry,

it patiently carves its own landscape and brews up the weather to go with it.