The debut EP from trio Le Big Zero is bracing. A youthful revitalization of indie rock forms, the tunes on Ollie Oxen Free are uniformly fun and invigorating. The EP, out on a limited vinyl run and up on a few streaming sites, is full of angular stuff which should please fans of Pavement, Weezer, The Clean, and Archers of Loaf, to name some obvious reference points.
"Dryer Lint Trap" is all slacker rock updated for the new century, while the sharper "Don't Know Any" marries guitar-lines like those of The Fall against an impassioned set of boy/girl vocals. It's the kind of tune that makes you stop and go, "Oh, who's that?" Elsewhere, "Nothing Ever Works" and "Moving Mountains" reveal debts owed to the early pioneers of grunge, the lumbering cuts not entirely as exciting as this band's peppier stuff. Still, "Oversure" has a nice lopsided charm about it, such that those of us who remember Bettie Serveert and Blake Babies might really find a lot to love here.
Le Big Zero are releasing this EP today, and you can find Ollie Oxen Free on streaming sites today, including via the link below, and it's available on vinyl if you act fast.
More details on Le Big Zero via the band's official website, or the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Jeanette D. Moses]