Odonis Odonis
Hollandaze
Release Date: Nov 7, 2011
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock, Lo-Fi, Noise Pop
Record label: Fat Cat Records
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Buy Hollandaze from Amazon
Album Review: Hollandaze by Odonis Odonis
Very Good, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 4/5
ODONIS ODONIS play the Port Friday (December 2). See nowtoronto.com for an interview. See listing. Rating: NNNN Toronto musician Dean Tzenos self-recorded the demos for Hollandaze before recruiting the other two-thirds of his band, Odonis Odonis. But rather than re-record them at a proper studio ….
Based on rating 8/10
Despite the silly pun in its title, Odonis Odonis' debut album, Hollandaze, is bold, assured, and much more varied than the work of many other artists crossing the streams of noise rock and shoegaze. Singer/songwriter Dean Tzenos is fluent in rock history, allowing him to draw from lots of different influences in unusual ways and craft intriguing juxtapositions of different traditions. “Ledged Up,” for example, features Tzenos singing in a grayed-out post-punk monotone, accompanied by a tinny industrial beat and dark surf guitars that evoke The Munsters' theme song; “Seedgazer” borrows from OutKast's “Hey Ya!” and video game music as well as more obvious dream pop trappings like heavily looped layers of guitars and vocals.
Based on rating 5.5/10
Surf-gaze/industrial punks Odonis Odonis hail from Toronto, ON, and create quite a ruckus on their self-titled album, Hollandaze. The band's guitarist, Dean Tzenos, initially received attention from blogs because of a seven-inch and a split album with Lotus Plaza this past summer. His group's '90s-leaning tracks shake up the dingy hovels that Big Black, the Jesus Lizard, and Tad built in the pre-grunge era with surf rock guitars and My Bloody Valentine-esque shoegazing.
Opinion: Excellent
A couple of years ago, I interviewed the three chaps from synth band Delphic. While chatting about their sound, I suggested that, in places, their album Acolyte reminded me of fellow Mancunians New Order. The temperature suddenly dropped a degree and two of the band members politely – but firmly – admonished me. Not only did the Delphic boys wholeheartedly disagree with the comparison, they were annoyed at being pigeon-holed with Manchester's past.
'Hollandaze'
is available now