A handful of motifs dotting O'Brother's 2008 The Death of Day, the inaugural work of the revamped lineup, stem from religion: God and The Devil are mentioned multiple times, while the comparably obscure reference of “Our bread, his body, left to rot” is heard in “Providence.” As the title implies, there's a funereal vibe to The Death of Day, but not all funerals have to be wholly gloomy. In some cases, a loss can spark a new path — an allegory certainly pertinent to the reborn O'Brother.
The music, too, shimmers with a thirst for the epochal, as their material is dominated by textured murmurs of guitar that expand into all-encompassing, woozy swirls. Cursive's Emo-bred Indie Rock makes for another excellent comparison point. Aaron Wamack's addition to O'Brother drew in weightier influences like Converge, Deftones and Meshuggah. Classical music, film scores and Brian Eno's Ambient music also affected the group.
Still, as a young group, O'Brother knows not to think too big. They're untangling the knots in their songwriting as they collect material for an upcoming record, but knowing that they have a plan is enough to give them a jolt of promise.
They play Bogart's with Thrice and the Manchester Orchestra. Get show details and Sound Advice here.
