Oppenheimer
Bar/None
By David Barker
Skewing the line between early ‘80s synth-pop and Eno-istic
ambience is apparently Oppenheimer’s mission objective. The
Irish duo’s debut incessantly brims with gleaming, propulsive
keyboards and light-as-air melodies. Much of the record is
steeped in electronics, with the guitars relegated to playing second
fiddle, err, guitar. And, the act of pegging the pair down
as a trans-Atlantic version of The Postal Service only serves as
a basic frame of reference, as Rocky O’Reilly and Shaun Robinson
are apt to pull the comparison more often than not. While
Oppenheimer almost plays out its breezy wares to a near-quotidian
point, the tracks are brief enough and segue perfectly, avoiding
any plodding. “Breakfast in NYC” is bound to
secure a place in many a seasonal mixtape (“summer’s
in your heart and I know that you’re stayin’…”),
echoing its multi-tracked, robotic vocals atop jovial, head-nodding
verses. “Saturday Looks Bad To Me”, besides being
a semi-humorous play on the Polyvinyl Records’ act, is arguably
the album’s climax, issuing its barely-intelligible chorus
through a vocoder and the strongest overall songwriting found here
(note the superbly placed clean guitar and handclaps). “Orchid”,
while not one of the best of the bunch, deserves a mention for
its having been written and sung by Tim Wheeler of Ash. Glistening
keys bottle up and explode on nearly all of the disc’s fourteen
tracks, occasionally sketching the outlines of a one-dimensional
act; but if there’s a lack of surprises, the abundance of
warmth and blissful hedonism are certainly enough redemption. As
a record released in the month of June, the album is a contender
for the coveted “soundtrack of the summer” tag that’s
so loosely thrown around while we critics ignore our primary duties
in favor of the weather’s offerings. But, it’s
a tag Oppenheimer wear rather vibrantly and proudly, and so far
no one seems to mind too much.
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