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New songs: ohia merges indie, folk

Narrowly dodging the typical indie rock stereotype is a tough thing for a college band to do. This is especially true when it belongs to the elite clique of signed Oberlin campus bands, half of which are pomo material and the other half are too embarrassed to admit they're not. Avoiding all conflicts and sneaking in somewhere in-between are songs:ohia, who recently released their new self-titled on Secretly Canadian Records.

And just in time. songs:ohia feels like summer. Breezy and quiet, simple and casual, the songs call for long, lofty days left pondering life while laying somewhere in the middle of a large field of...wheat. The album is wholesome in that way.

The Secretly Canadian Records catalog description dubs songs:ohia's tracks as "prairie death ballads," which couldn't be more accurate. And with song titles like "Crab Orchard," "Cotton Hill" and "Dogwood Gap," one can see why. Jason Molina's voice (who hails from Lorain) bends senior Josh Leeman's chords into a collaboration of swoons and folk songs, with background plucks on the banjo. Oddly enough, however, the collaboration works. songs:ohia is low-key enough that they can get away with it, while still minding the strict rules of what's hip: being different.

songs:ohia definitely ran stray from the norm somewhere along the way. While the melodies and instrumentation yearns to speak to the true folkies out there, the concept is still straight D.I.Y. indie rock. Call it emo-folk, songs:ohia tell a story most peculiar.

Even from the opening track, listeners are aware of the uniqueness of songs:ohia's sound. "Cabwaylingo," the song is called, but has nothing to do with cabs, nor the way of cabs, nor any relating lingo. It's short, like the rest of the songs, but gets its point across in so many ways. Predictable guitar chords and cute banjo accompaniment make for an interesting backdrop for which Molina's voice tells the story the rest of us will probably never figure out. But with so much confidence, we don't really mind; it's the melody that counts. And, as simple and anti-climactic as it is, it works. Simplicity is key, here, as with the entire album.

Elsewhere, Molina is less perky; more thoughtful. With "Gauley Bridge," he gets almost sentimental, singing in a carefully lyrical tone, with minimal guitar backing and no percussion. Quiet whistles and folk-inspired patterns in the voice delve deep into the sincere realm of songs:ohia's style, rather, the more-sincere side. songs:ohia doesn't have a note of insincerity in them. And the way Molina sings, whether he's hurting or just telling a little anecdote, you better believe it - this guy's for real.

While the 13 track album clocks in almost as fast as a punk album, the half-hour spent is one of educated wisdom. songs:ohia's tracks are laid out in such a fashion, with several seconds of soft quiet between them, so that they have time to sink in. The listener is gently nudged to stop and think about each one's meaning and let it settle before the next begins.

When the final strum of "U.M.W. Pension" ceases from acoustic vibration, after Molina repeats his last verse of "This, they'll say, serve me rightly," there's a sense of relief. Not because the album is over with, but because the listener has grown that much more. Call it a lesson in easy listening of a different generation - one more concerned with honesty in melody than the next big pop explosion. And, as songs:ohia proves, that's just fine.

- Lauren Viera

Oberlin

Copyright © 1997, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 125, Number 24; May 9, 1997

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