Preteen Weaponry

'Part 2' is the album's most intense track, 'Part 3' is it's most intriguing. [Sep 2008, p.150]

Preteen Weaponry’s psychedelic rout may be far from their finest hour, but it serves to remind all that these jesters should belong as part of the furniture.

Oneida’s chemistry alone isn’t enough to make modest material effloresce.

On its own perhaps a little on the skinny side for a new Oneida full-length, but as an appetiser ffor the triptych's next instalment--due early next year--this'll work just fine for now. [Sep 2008, p.102]

The intensity of its stylistic approach leaves it feeling nothing short of a musical dissertation as it side-steps melodies, bridges and verses from the get-go.

For everybody else, an album of atmospheric repetitions and meandering jams likely won’t be overly exciting.

Even if Preteen Weaponry is one more left turn out of many in the band's catalog, it nonetheless reaffirms what makes Oneida stand out.

It makes Preteen Weaponry a very hate-it-or-love-it effort, although Krautrock/comische music/whatever exactly you want to try calling this thing is rare and outré enough that it shouldn’t be very hard to know if you’re going to like it.

The incredible ride finishes not with a bang but with a whimper. Preteen Weaponry isn't much more than a 39-minute sonic experiment for a band seeking a new direction, but it's such a mindfuck to listen to, who cares where it ends up?

Presumably the climax of the whole stumbling, stoned expedition arrives about halfway through the latter half, when some synthy Gregorian chant-style vocals trudge into the mix for a few seconds, but by the time the album reaches its dingy conclusion and fades back into feedback loops and distant alien static noises, Oneida seems to have inadvertently demonstrated only one thing: that, dude, having, like, rad conceptual ideas and high aspirations does not a good album make.

On Preteen Weaponry, it patiently carves its own landscape and brews up the weather to go with it.

Oneida have always been a thick stew of different influences, but usually with a dash of originality to bind it together; Preteen Weaponry never rises above pastiche. Nevertheless, the band’s hypnotic drone sweeps through the album like a swift current — it’s enough to generate anticipation for their future travels.

This EP, the first in a projected triptych, shows the group in their best light. [Nov 2008, p.74]

It seems nothing can stop them from releasing a good-to-great album each ear, and Preteen Weaponry is another sensation that will likely be taken for granted.

A blend of delicate, hypnotic electr-folk and pulsating prog--a tantalizing treat. [Sep 2008, p.99]

This time around they've left the acoustic instruments aside for the most part, and have managed to get closer than ever to capturing the textbook face-melting that is an Oneida live performance. [Fall 2008, p.82]

As with most album trilogies, this first one is promising.