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Sometimes California seems to be so close to Northern Italy … The trick is not involving Star Trek-like transporter but years of assimilation of rock music smelling of California as well as fruitful professional interaction with gurus of the Californian rock scene. Oak’s Mary, from Piacenza (Northern Italy), have by now become an institution in the Italian underground rock panorama, and beyond. As a matter of fact, many people in Europe will have caught these guys when they proudly supported the entire epic Euro tour of Fatso Jetson back in 2010. For example, how to forget that cool gig at the Little Devil pub in Tilburg, Oak’s Mary and Fatso Jetson, able to resuscitate energies after days of Roadburn full immersion ... After additional years of intense live activity these four funky desert rockers are back with the same energy and easy-going playful attitude typical of musicians who play for sheer enjoyment of themselves and of their friends. Let’s list their names: Pietro Seghini on guitar and vocals, Riccardo Cavicchia on guitar, Marco Sarracino on bass and backing vocals and Gioele Serena on drums. Oak’s Mary’s new album, the fourth one, is called “Say Hello To The President”. It was released in late February by indipendent label Desert Fox Records, but it belongs to a hot, dry summer by definition. Album “Say Hello To The President” includes 13 tracks for almost 52 minutes of tight, fresh, dynamic, genuine, raw, thundering stoner/desert rock contaminated by retro heavy blues rock, by acid funky sounds in the vein of QOTSA, a bit of grunge as well as psychedelia.
In the press sheet the band had announced this as the fourth and “most mature” album. I don’t know if word “mature” copes well with “desert/stoner rock”. I guess ideally the two terms clash, always! Or better, I feel a bit allergic to the word “mature” when dealing with underground music and especially raaaawk, eh eh …
Anyway, especially since their hot album Mathilda, Oak’s Mary have been refining their own style which is, I would say, fully established and well recognizable. And they are able to involve listeners in their very enjoyable stream of rock both when seeing them live and while listening to their albums, as they are able to inject a generous part of the freshness and energy of their rock shows in their studio recordings. Let’s also admit that there is actually also some “solid”, physical Californian input in this new album. After being captured by Alberto Callegari at the Elfo Recording Studio (Italy), the record was mixed and mastered by Mathias Schneeberger at the Donner & Blitzen Studios in Los Angeles (Mondo Generator, Fatso Jetson, Sunn O))), Desert Sessions, Earthlings, Goatsnake, Masters of Reality, Brant Bjork, etc.).
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Moreover Mario Lalli (Fatso Jetson/Yawning Man) is back collaborating with his friends on vocals, guitars and lyrics in the third track of the album “Sand in the Teeth”. Also, the second track in the new album, “Wait”, comes from the 2010 split between Oak’s Mary and Fatso Jetson. So if the infectious bass-driven rhythm in trackThis Funky For You is opening the album in the due California rock party-like mood, it is the second track, the impressive “Wait”, that will definitely drag you into the pit with its blasting force, roared vocals and seducing slide guitar sound. So the following, beautiful “Sand in the teeth”, lead by Mario Lalli, almost sounds “meditative” and nostalgic, as lyrics too suggest. This overly charming psychedelic ballad makes you long to feel that Californian desert sand in your teeth, to be there for breathing that dry air, while enjoying the tunes that belong to that place. You can check out the cool video captured by the band in one of the live recording sessions for the track. Oak’s Mary guys will cheer you up with their following sequence of tight to easy-going raaawk ballads where they blend the sounds they like and as well as quote stylistic features from their previous albums. You can definitely grasp echoes of Mathilda album in tracks like the opener, The Khage, Blue Dimension, Juliette, I Believe.
Oak’s Mary guys too give some space to “romance” and melancholy, like, for example in track “I’ve Got The Sunshine”, where grungy, melancholic refrains alternate with energetic choruses where riffs get back to power. Riffs, thunderous riffs like those heard in the ballad “Wait” dominate also in the eighth track “Running Away”, whereas the ballad Believe is opened by a very atmospheric intro that is the few moments of pure psychedelia on this album. Oak’s Mary guys can keep you busy til the end of their album, no problem. So they put another infectious and dynamic track, “No Answer”, gloriously recalling the acid sounds and atmospheres heard in the best albums by QOTSA. The closure of the album is via the funky and retro vibes in track “Walking Through The Night”.
Oak's Mary’s new album “Say Hello To The President” is out as digipack version via the Italian label Desert Fox Records/Third Conspiracy Records and should be distributed in USA by Cobraside Distribution. You may also contact the friendly chaps of the band for getting hold of the new CD, as well as for the glorious Mathilda album, in case you missed it in the past. CDBaby is distributing the digital version of the new album.
Words:
Marilena MoroniFacebookMyspaceCD Baby
Oak’s Mary - “Send in The Teeth”, featuring Mario Lalli – live preview
