Feral Ohms
Live In San Francisco
Castle Face Records [2016]
Who: Hailing from Oakland, Ca. power trio Feral Ohms is like a good friend. Feral Ohms doesn’t overstay their welcome, they have fun all the while kicking your ass, and finally you have to know when you can hang out again.
Sound: What really caught me by surprise is what lead guitarist/vox Ethan Miller is associated with. Not only was he co-founder of Comets on Fire but, he‘s also associated with one of my favorite psych/folk acts of the past year, Heron Oblivion. Feral Ohms is vastly different to Heron’s hypnotic tranquility. Think Motorhead motor city madness heshers with a nice dash of “caveman” psych.
TFN Final Take: While they‘ve recorded a few singles, Live In San Francisco is their first crack at a twelve inch (Their studio debut full length is out March 24.) With that being said, Feral Ohms makes a case to be up there with White Fence, Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall, which have released some of the best in the Live In San Francisco series. With an unruly, raw FUZZ like energy, these guys bend and strangle the life out of their instruments. “Teenage God Born to Die” starts fairly groovy until it descends into guitar wails and guttural choral bellows of “TEENAGE GOD BORN TO DIE.” “Super Ape” is just that, a veritable onslaught of string slingin’ wahs and squeals. The drums continue to punish like the unrelenting fist. “The Glow” finishes out the 18-minute set with huge riff swings and bloodthirsty band pummels that have you begging for a full studio album. My only dig is that there isn’t any more. The songs aren’t deep by any means but Feral Ohms has made the argument for quantity over quality-in the best way possible. These 6 songs are weighty monsters that will have you saying that studio LP cannot get here soon enough.
Feral Ohms Facebook
Castle Face Records
– Reviewed by Christopher Tahy
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