Oneida

Oneida

The Wedding (Jagjaguwar)

In 1983, Huey Lewis proclaimed, "I want a new drug, one that won't make me sick." Well, ladies and gentlemen, the freaks known as Oneida have been ingesting that drug for the last seven years, their brains properly massaged by feedback and noise, stimulated into creating music that's a cross between an ice-cream headache and a glorious sonic ejaculation of the soul. The Wedding, their fifth LP, is more proof that cohesiveness is overrated, and that Oneida's mellow will not be harshed. Much like on 2002's Each One Teach One, Oneida thrashes through the rainbow spectrum: Sixties tweak fests celebrate the spirit of Robert Plant's magical bulge, stretching out into long-winded twitches of Seventies pagan rock. The romantic harmonies of opener "The Eiger" bleed into the anthemic "Lavender," with its lyrics about braiding pubic hair. "Runs Through My Hair" almost sounds like gospel until distortion creeps up. "Did I Die" is pure psych sacrifice layered over singer Hanoi Jane's yelps of "Did I die or have my eyes rolled back inside my head?" "You're Drifting" is all high river baptismal, which flows into the murky "Heavenly Choir." The amazing "The Beginning Is Nigh" swoops down like the hand of God to deliver this wisdom: Keep your friends close and your drugs closer.