Olympia, Washington and
K Records
mainstay
Arrington de Dionyso
is one of the true machines of his indie rock circles, standing out as a shamanistic possessed preacher in a field of shy strummers and awkwardly mumbling twee-poppers. After being the only constant member of his ever-touring, ever-burning skronk-punk project
Old Time Relijun
for over 15 years,
de Dionyso
explored circular breathing, throat singing, and trancy drone music for a while before combining all of these elements into a full band with
Malaikat Dan Singa
.
Open the Crown
, the third proper release from the project, is somehow both their most accessible and most adventurous. Clearer production homes in on the post punk-informed elements of the band, with tracks like "There Will Be No Survivors" and the relentless title track taking cues from
the Pop Group
's echoey repetition,
PiL
's vacant chaos, or the more explosive
This Heat
moments.
De Dionyso
's vocals are always a focal point as he dips from anguished
Nick Cave-isms
to deep-throated bellowing somewhere between
Captain Beefheart
and Tuvan throat singing. Flipping from the pulsing, heavy meditation of "The Akedah (The Moon Is Full)" to "Jiwa Dari Jiwaku,"
also flips languages, interspersing English lyrics among Indonesian, the language all other
songs were sung in prior to this album. The record rides a burning high for the entire duration, with
Angelo Spencer
's angular guitar lines and
Ben Kapp
's hypnotic drumming supporting
Arrington
's unhinged ranting, blurty horns, and throaty yelps. The only misstep comes in the faux-rap of closer "I Manipulate the Form'd and the Formless," which rides the line between confusing and embarrassing as
rhymes metaphysically over a less than funky Casio beat. With this one glaring exception,
is a high point in
's vast discography, and the culmination of all that led up to it. ~ Fred Thomas