Search - Thirty Ought Six :: Bosozoku

Greatness of the drone.

R. Fitzgerald | Houston, TX | 07/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From Portland Oregon, and easily one of the best of the mid 90's Portland bands, Thirty Ought Six still somehow wound up relatively unknown nationally. This was an era of great music in Portland, which featured the likes of Elliot Smith's Rock band Heatmiser, as well as Hazel, Pond, Hellbender, The Spinanes, Sleater Kinney and others.



Singer and Bassist Sean Roberts and Guitartist Dave Blunk came to Portland from the DC area, and you can hear some influence of the DC underground (Dischord) bands of that time: The music rises and falls, is aggressive and somber in most tracks, and overall is written to emote. But there is a northwest influence too. Yes, there is distorted malaise typical of pop-Seattle of the time, but Blunk's guitar is clear and sparse in the breaks, hearkening more to Engine Kid then Nirvana, and he creates a rainy ambiance for Roberts to operate his melodies from a droney bass guitar.



The unique sound of the Bass comes from Robert's return to an open string before and after every measure-- creating a minor and dark drone that carries through every song, and creates layers as if there were another bassline beneath the bassline. The bass plucked in quiet parts, and then becomes a violent harmony when it is chorded in the songs' cruchendos. "Cotillion" is a stand-out song on the album and has no words.



Equally unique is the mad drumming of Ryan Paravecchio. The drums and the thunderous bass must have been what inspired the band to name itself after a rifle. Paravecchio is fast, loud and is seemingly all over every drum and symbol all at once. Then, suddenly the music quiets and he finds places to insert obscure off-beats to compliment the melodies. His range and power is most evident then on the opening track "Bosozoku."



Somehow, Sean Roberts is able to match the emotion of his band with his voice. At first listen you might not hear it, or think to mention it because of all that is going on behind him- but Roberts is a good singer. The lyrics are intelligent; all thoughts are concise but open-ended, all humor is ironic. In "Boy Wonder" Roberts proclaims, "She believes in Love. God knows why but, that's what she believes in." This lyric repeated, and comprises the lyrical entirety of a 3 minute song. Other times Roberts lays out a longer set of words, full of possible meanings.



The hit that never was, is the song "Huck". There was a video they made that i saw late one night on Portland public access. It was pretty bad, and did the song no justice. But rating the album; it is a must for those who want a band who will spill it all on the floor, walk away with no voice left, leave each set exhausted and bruised, but still somehow sound...well, pretty.



Thirty ought six broke up after their second album, Hagseed. I prefer Bosozoku to Hagseed, but Roberts progresses as a lyricist in the second Album, and the recordings is cleaner.



Get them both."