Back in July of 2015, after I was coming home for my
afternoon walk, there was an album that arrived in the mail. It was a trio from
Austin, TX named Opposite Day and the name of their album was Space Taste Race Part 2 released on
their label, Future Banana Replacement. This was a sequel to their 2013 EP Space Taste Race Part 1. For me, it was
a crazy off-the-wall releases of their sixth full-length album that nearly blew
me away.
Not just because it’s great, but the way they combined Art
Rock, Math Rock, Pop, and odd-time signatures, with a twist to the master of
the Grand Wazoo and Cardiacs maestro, Tim Smith. Since they launched 16 years
ago in their hometown in Austin, Opposite Day described their music as
“Educational Art-Rock for Animals” which describes their music very well. Not only
that, but it is also, Jigsaw-puzzle complex music.
Bassist Greg Yancey, Lead Vocalist and Guitarist Sam Arnold,
and drummer Pat Kennedy, released their new album this year entitled, I Calculate Great was recorded from 2015
to 2017 at Greg’s House. And it was Pat’s last album before departing last year
as Eoghan McCloskey became the new drummer for Opposite Day. The artwork for
the album is done by Tim Doyle which details of two pandas in spacesuits
arriving back home from Earth after a long day in outer space.
With a cat watching in confusion on why they’ve come back
for a long, long time and why they’ve waited for a long time to come back home.
It is a very good detail and shown in their faces what will happen next for
them. I Calculate Great is a very
interesting mix. The trio bring more carte blanche and free rein while pushing
the envelope further and further. But Sam Arnold brings in more of the
ammunition to see what will happen next.
Radar Face opens
to a full-scale assault between Sam and Greg’s bass. There’s these twists and
turns from calm scenarios into punk-rock momentum with a helicopter approaching
throughout the midsection as if Frank Zappa have come down and made a nice hot cooked meal that is very,
very spicy for the Cardiacs to sink
into.
Panda Formula begins
with a psychedelic intro then turned into metal riffs. It’s part thrash, part
math rock, and unexpected hoedowns in a different yet difficult time signature
to swing your partner to the right with an Art Rock meets Texas Metallic rock
style! Both Rules Are Rude and Ribbons & Lasers brings more of the wackiness
to Opposite Day’s table.
Sam brings in more of the inspirations between Max Webster,
Half Past Four, and Mr. Bungle into a giant blender to give Opposite Day a lot
of insanity and crazy ideas to play around. But then, on Making Tornadoes it climbs upwards and downwards for the guitar to
go left and right in stereophonic format. Sam does his Mike Patton-sque
arrangement to nod his head and pay homage while the Tornadochestra go into an Uncle Meat arrangement.
The only track that never clicked with me is their take of
David Bowie’s classic, Life On Mars? At
first I wanted to hate this. Because I was thinking to myself listening to
this, “Why are you doing this? It sounds too Circusy! You should it honor and
stay true to the classic.” But then after a few listens, it’s not that bad,
it’s not my cup of coffee. I know what Sam was trying to do, but again, it just
didn’t click with me.
The closing track of Maurice Ravel’s Bolero is Opposite Day riding off into the sunset thanks to its
militant bass and drums as the music rides off into the west. Sam does this
incredible job on his guitar to make the sun go down playing the melody near
the end to close the album off. Opposite Day have always peaked my interest
since 2015. And they’ve always kept on my radar and it will be interesting to
hear more and more of their music and see what will happen next.
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