This week’s Artist of the Week is eccentric post-punk trio oh800. With the release of their debut album Character Building imminent, these three guys have been pulling out all the stops to make sure it gets the appreciation it deserves.
The band’s latest release from the album is the undeniably catchy “Melanin.” Filled with jangling guitars, fuzzy synth beats, and the trio’s killer harmonies throughout, this single is a sure-fire hit from the offset. Frontman Eoin Rooney’s vocal style has previously been compared to that of LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy and we can see why, however what Rooney uniquely manages to do is write poignant lyrics alongside his colloquial phrasing to create something that is highly relatable.
Of the track, Rooney elaborates “We had the music for this song kicking around for quite a while, but the lyrics came after a young black kid was killed by a police officer in our area of London. The officer thought he swallowed a suspicious package and chased him down. You know the rest… Meanwhile on the same streets, middle class white people walk around every weekend with suspicious packages in their pockets, suspicion free. That pisses me off. So I wrote a song about it.” Well said Rooney, well said.
Character Building is in stores on 12th October 2018 via Infinite Jest Records.
