obnox
Play Me: “See Me” by Obnox
Now, here's a face I never thought I'd see on the NPR website. Hillary? Sure. The Donald? Yes. Kim Davis? For fucks sake, I wish it wasn't so. But Obnox, Cleveland's own, Lamont "Bim" Thomas? As much as his profile has been steadily rising with each successive release of forward-thinking, punk'n'rap'n'soul albums, or trunk punk, as he calls it, I never considered the possiblity of Bim on NPR
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Play Me: “Look to the Sun” by Obnox
Bim don't quit. Clevelander, Lamont "Bim" Thomas writes, records, and tours as Obnox as often as other musicians tweet their lamebrain opinions on shit they don't know shit about, which is all the damn time. 2015 has already seen to Obnox albums: Boogalou Reed and Know America, and today, we get the first taste of Bim's third release of 2015 in the form of "Look to the Sun" from Wiglet, due out later this year on Ever/Never. This one is a slow, purposeful crusher with deliberate, doom metal guitars rendered in static, and vocals, half spoken and half sung, blurred by the rumble. It's not a happy song, in the least, but damn am I happy Bim keeps doing his thing.
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Indie Rock Is Too White; Meanwhile Two Black Dudes Are Behind the Baddest Punk Rock Records of 2015
We, as Americans, have a long, proud history of segregating music. Rock and country are white. Rap, hip-hop, soul, and R'N'B are black. Go further back, and jazz music was off limits to those of fair skin with and over-protective parents. Removing one word, "indie rock," from the history of music segregation will do little to change the musical landscape. No "indie rock" simply means people will need another phrase to describe music outside of the top 40, ideally, something less wordy than, "Underground rock music, and some electronic music, and a metal band or two, and every once in a while something popular like Kanye." Yet, what grates me the most about the whiteness of indie rock think piece in 2015 is that these writers are missing the big picture. On this very day, in the year 2015 of our lord, the two most exciting bands in indie rock/underground rock/punk rock/not top 40 rock, are lead by black men: MC Ride of Death Grips and Lamont "Bim" Thomas of Obnox.
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New Jam City: New Jams by Obnox, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and Flesh Lights
After two albums where the lines between rock and hip-hop became increasing blurred, Obnox offers up something different as a first taste from his second album of 2015: a rocker, no slashes, no dashes, just a rocker.
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Jam City: New Jams by Lightning Bolt, Blaxxx, Joanna Gruesome and Colleen Green
Six years is an eternity in modern music. In six years, your old fan-base has grown up, moved to the suburbs, and bought a baby-hauling, suburban utility vehicle, or two.
It's not like the influential, noise duo, Lightning Bolt, intended such a long delay between albums, either. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Brian Gibson and Brian Chippendale recounted multiple recording sessions that simply fell flat.
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The Rockometer: Boogalou Reed by Obnox
It's not just the whole damn country that's about to blow up, with his third long player in less than three years, Lamont "Bim" Thomas is due to blow up, too. For more than any other Obnox record, Boogalou Reed, showcases Thomas' unique ability to blur the lines between punk rock, hip-hop, and experimental sounds. There are no beat-based joints, or punk rock ragers, or improv head fucks. Instead, there are Obnox songs, fifteen of them, to be precise, and each one gives the listener a slightly different perspective into the mind of Thomas, on this, the outlaw rockers' most poignant work to date.
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Play Me: “Slaughter Culture” by Obnox
Cleveland's Lamont Bim Thomas may not have the name recognition and critical attention of Toronto's Fucked Up, and he may not have the gift of self promotion, like Sacramento instigators, Death Grips, but along with those two artists, Thomas' Obnox has been at the forefront of 21st Century punk movement. More impressively, Thomas continues on his winning streak of 2013's Corrupt Free Enterprise and 2014's Louder Space without sacrificing any quality. If anything, the first few listens to the soon-to-be-released Boogalou Reed (1.27 on 12XU) have revealed a band just hitting its stride.
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Two New Obnox Joints: “Boogolou Reed” and “Cynthia Piper at the Gates of Dawn”
Don't be fooled by the punny song titles, "Boogalou Reed" and "Cynthia Piper at the Gates of Dawn," Cleveland's punk rock 'n' roll ...
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