OH HOME “World Mask” (Hardlycore)

Shirtless/barefoot Redondo Beach confrontationalists Le Joshua split up some time following their 2005 West Coast tour with Mika Miko, and Oh Home is drummer Drew’s new-ish expansionist emo prog project/duo. Radly, the instrumentation and compositional pacing here is infinitely more complex, incorporating naked mandolin strums, breaking glass, ebowed tonal tension, fluttering flutes, radical quiet/loud shifts, falsetto soul covers, and grandiose guitar distortion. Unlike most psych crews, however, OH aren’t interested in mixing all these tricks up into a fluid bag…instead, they pivot violently from one zone/approach to the next. So, “jarring” is – intentionally – always the adjective of the day. There’s also no doubt some of the vocals will be tough for non-punks to stomach, but overall World Mask is a surprisingly diverse and unclassifiable block of youth art energy. Bonus: fantastic 12-panel double-sided fold-out J-card/mini-poster on recycled paperstock amps the tape’s object-hood immensely.