It’s fitting that Northern Irish electro-pop duo Rocky O’Reilly and Shaun Robinson are signed to prestigious US indie label Bar/None, as they do sound exactly like an American underground band – thankfully, they happen to sound like a really good American underground band.
O’Reilly’s vocals are strongly reminiscent of singers such as Jimmy Eat World’s Jim Adkins, while the duo’s pulsating rhythms and heavy guitars call to mind the best of Stateside alternative rock. As to further acknowledge the group’s debt to all things American and indie, there is a guest vocal appearance on the record by Matt Caughtran, lead singer of LA-based hardcore punk outfit The Bronx.
Throughout, the electro-rock soundscapes that O’Reilly and Robinson conjure up on tracks such as ‘Breakfast In NYC’, ‘When I Close My Eyes I Fall In Love’ and ‘Nine Words’ are inspired, merging motorik grooves with My Bloody Valentine-style distorted guitars. Just to top it all, the duo have a very strong melodic sensibility, which means that, for all the sonic experimentation, the songs remain very accessible.
Oppenheimer have certainly also mastered the art of brevity – the album clocks in at a very concise half an hour. The group will no doubt grow and really start to find their identity over their next few records, but this is undeniably a very promising debut.