OOIOO / LIGHTNING BOLT
The Horizon Spirals / The Horizon Viral (Thrill Jockey)
Surely a combination of band names to have a certain effect on a certain section of music nerds, and by ‘certain effect’ we mean ‘noise boner’ of course. Not, unfortunately, a collaborative record of band-blending madness, this is a side of vinyl per band, who you should know and love as excellent Japanese avant-psych explorers and phenomenal American rock exploders, respectively.
OOIOO’s The Horizon Spirals comprises two longish pieces, built around metal gamelan trills, lots of repetition, and Yoshimi’s ascending vocal urgings. You can plot both like Kurt Vonnegut’s story shapes: gears shift, sections crescendo and mutate, the music dances and pummels beautifully. Plus: trumpet.
Lightning Bolt’s The Horizon Viral is a blast of five gapless tracks that run together like a spacecraft pile-up, the duo’s typical gonzo drums/guitar attack refined, shearing and delirious. The usual slew of adjectives – piercing, maddening, exhausting – apply to the whole record: 2026’s premier mind-warping treat.
words WILL STEEN
THE HORIZON SPIRALS / THE HORIZON VIRAL by OOIOO / Lightning Bolt
