- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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The sound is huge and intimate all at once; the songs have hooks and staying power.
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Alternative PressA frenetic, opaque masterpiece that ranks in the upper echelons of post-rock primacy. [Apr 2004, p.96]
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Seriously fucked-up and seriously stunning.
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A schizophrenic mess of maypole folk and motorik drive.
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Entertainment WeeklyThis bracing sixth full-length funnels the frenzy into more easily digestible bites. [6 Feb 2004, p.140]
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‘Secret Wars’ is an engaging 40 minutes; a haphazard, likely to spontaneously combust at any moment 40 minutes to be sure, but that was the ethic that spawned rock ‘n’ roll in the first place and in these hands there’s plenty of life in it yet.
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MojoThis time there's noticeably less fuzz and extraneous squall piled on top. [Feb 2004, p.92]
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Secret Wars is the first step toward the combination of Oneida's monolithic psych-rock and the numbing riff iteration they've spent so long deriving.
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They actually sound like they've elected to live in a cocoon full of aromatic candles, a huge collection of musty records, some drugs, some books, and a collection of mid eighties Peel sessions alphabetically labelled on TDK C90s.
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They channel experimental noise, acid-drenched riffs, and live-show spontaneity into a record of brilliantly crafted nuggets of lysergic rock that is easily their most consistent effort to date.
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Secret Wars is more than a good album. It's an incredible experience, taking you out of your daily life into a mysterious and mind-changing space.
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Secret Wars feels like a keeper, like an album I’ll pull out and play and still love ten years from now.
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Secret Wars clamors like past Oneida albums dating back to 1997, but it also shows a band mellowing out without losing its charge.
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Secret Wars is a sobering demonstration of what repetition can do in the wrong hands, as the Brooklyn trio funnel the most endurance-testing excesses of Suicide, Can, Sonic Youth and stoner rock into a joyless, oppressive piece of work.
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These are eight rip-roaring, drag racing anthems mashed together with blood cakes and shards of bone.
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UncutTheirs is a maniacal mish-mash of seemingly incompatible musical styles--Krautrock, psychedelia, no-wave, prog, synth-pop, '70s stoner rock and punk--wrought from a deeply felt, genre-leaping love of challenge. [Feb 2004, p.80]
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All in all, expertly wobbling prog metal, constructed out of as few chords as possible.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 4
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Mixed: 0 out of 4
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Negative: 0 out of 4
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davesJan 18, 2005One helluva pysch-rock noise as you could wish for. ideal for fans of Comets On Fire and ilk.
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BobbyGJan 3, 2005I don't remember listening something so heavy and yet melodic at he same time.