I loved the first ONO record on Moniker so much I felt a letdown coming on. The elusive ensemble’s Diegesis, however, obliterates my concerns by stubbornly swerving even farther off the grid than its predecessor. None of the genres I’ve ever heard of apply to ONO, so we’ll have to take it slow as we identify what we’re dealing with here. Not sure who the singer is (P. Michael maybe? Liner notes, you have let me down.) but he’s a schizo to say the least. I hear traces of Wilderness and the bloke from Chameleons in the vocals, albeit with more of a street-preacher mentality, yet that’s only the beginning of his vast store of identities. The goal is to provoke the senses and revoke the power structures that have led to the enslavement of us all. To that end, ONO reach through several layers of history to grasp for inspiration, from Psychic TV to jammy Jimi rock (“Burning of the Midnight Lamp” is covered, even) to The Residents to 80s underground experimental musics in general to gospel to absurdism, the latter being perhaps their most potent weapon. Recognizing the futility of it all is the first step to a heightened understanding of why it’s important to stay motivated while there’s still time to act. Most bands try to figure out what is going on with the world. ONO sit back in tall buildings and laugh at the ridiculousness of it our “stainless steel” culture, and that has made all the difference.
More about: ONO
