Been Obscene: Night O'Mine

If Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age and Masters Of Reality got together for a jam session, then the results may well sound like much of Night O'Mine by Been Obscene. The guitars are fuzzy, the quirky keyboards add a little colour and the songs just about know the difference between being stretched out and over staying their welcome.

In fairness Been Obscene, other than having a nice line in band names, album titles and cover art, never quite become as clever as the three bands who are obviously close to their heart. The overtly dazed attack of Kyuss is toned down, the eye for the killer hook that moved QofSA nearer to superstardom never truly appears, while the gentle seduction that marks Masters Of Reality as, well masters of the genre, is attempted without really coming to fruition.

Enough of the negatives! Maybe this has all been done before and yes, maybe all a little better, but in truth, what Been Obscene do is hugely engaging and well crafted. The riffs are, as expected, big and sludgy, but the focus is more on melody than might be expected and considering that the seven minutes of "Endless Scheme" and the eight minutes that makes up "Snake Charmer" positively whizz by in a slow determined kind of way, says a lot for how well this band keep you entertained. Tempos change, the guitars move from all out assault to restrained and poised, via tasty, stinging licks and back again, while the vocals add that Chris Goss like melodic wail. One of the true highlights however is the precise, yet grooving percussion, which while never attempting to steal the show, does catch the attention with the sheer variety of sounds and approaches employed. The album's title track illustrates all of these combined strengths to great effect, with a romping riff being interspersed with sprawling drums, throbbing bass and syrupy vocals, before morphing into short, slow sections that caress, before the main riff slaps you back to alertness.

The only real blot on the Night O'Mine copy-book is the ten minute silence between last song proper "Alone" and a thoroughly pointless 20 seconds or so of piano and vocal gargling. Why do bands do this? Who do they think actually sits through the silence more than once, for something so completely pointless??? Stop it and stop it now!! Sorry.....

Night O'Mine is a rather tasty little slab of Stoner that cleverly covers the various guises this genre can rumble through, being completely convincing as it does so.

Track Listing
1. Endless Scheme
2. Snake Charmer
3. Cut The Rope
4. Apathy
5. Night O'Mine
6. The Run
7. Memories In Salvation
8. Alone

Added: April 14th 2012
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Been Obscene on Bandcamp
Hits: 2045
Language: english

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