UMO’s casual mix of crate-digger funk and sizzling psych-rock is a genre of its own and hard to categorize.
On Sex & Food, we’re getting a lot of the same ideas that made UMO famous. Garbled vocals, swallowed guitar licks, messy drums and the like. The first single ‘American Guilt’ was new for the band, loud and ferocious with razor-sharp teeth. However, the next single ‘Not In Love We’re Just High’ signalled how most of this album would sound. Reflective, slow-burning, and tame. ‘Ministry of Alienation’ has shimmery guitars, but the song gets stale after a while. The track ‘Hunnybee’ is a nice little jam but ends abruptly.
That being said, the song ‘Major League Chemicals’ is a fantastic opener, and single ‘Everyone Acts Crazy Nowadays’ is also fun. This new album sees the band at an interesting crossroad between a continued DIY sound versus the desire to explore new ideas.
6/10