aaamusic | On 28, Oct 2012

Last week I reviewed a band claiming to play a mix of punk rock and soul, they also claimed to be vampires but the mix of Punk and soul alone got me very, very interested indeed. Unfortunately, they didn’t quite live up to expectations on account of being a hell of a lot more uncompromising than I thought they would be, and it was a sobering slap in the face, reminding me that just because a band sounds amazing on paper, doesn’t mean they will be. But I never learn and when I was confronted with New Orleans based solo artist Ikil Oriion’s debut album, the marvellously titled Paranoise Void, I was struggling to curb my anticipation for hearing the record. As it turns out, though, Paranoise Void is pretty damn marvellous, mostly because I’d got the wrong idea of the album’s sound. When I was expecting clipped, mid-2000’s esque punk-funk, what I got was salacious garage rock with the tightness and… dare I say it, groove of premium grade funk. And with that combination alone, it’s funny how much mileage it has, many songs on this record sound markedly different from each other, but, with the help of Oriion’s unmistakeable vocals up front it never sounds random or unfocused.
There are songs that sound exactly as one would imagine a mix between Garage rock and Funk would sound, case in point opening track and lead single For Better “R” Worse, which struts sleazily around the places on a distorted guitar riff, stabbing Hammond Organ and Oriion’s N’awlins drawl. But Revolution sounds like a grittier version of Garbage’s Stupid Girl and She Roxxx is a straight up metal track, complete with palm muted power chords, wailing solos and a crushing heaviness that wouldn’t sound out of place on an undiscovered 80’s thrash album. There are also tips of a purple But as I said, not once does this rampant genre hopping feel out of place. The unfortunate thing is sometimes Oriion’s half rapped – half sung vocal style can get slightly one note (literally), and lyrically, it’s near-constant references to sex and relationships do get old, so it’s a relief that You Talk To Much is a wickedly funny riposte to a useless manager and in general, while the topics might grate Oriion’s got enough wordplay and rapid-fire delivery to make listening to them a vastly entertaining experience.
In total this is an indescribably fun album, made for parties and some no doubt sensational live shows. It’s true that it might not be the deepest album released this year but well-done shallowness beats faux-depth any day of the week, to me anyway. So this might just be that most rare of albums, one that you can read about (maybe on some sort of up and coming music review website!), look it up, and find that it sounds just as good as it reads, in this day and age where artists are getting signed on self-publicity over great tunes, it’s a very refreshing thing to find indeed.

★★★★★

Will Howard