The Ooz
by King Krule
User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 110 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 97 out of 110
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 110
  3. Negative: 8 out of 110
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  1. Paccles
    Oct 13, 2017
    9
    King Krule on The OOZ is a moribund blossomer. Dark, discordant, vicious rock and moody jazz; more interesting than anything else you're listening to.
  2. CPaccini
    Oct 13, 2017
    9
    The OOZ has very evident influences musically and aesthetically while also being very personal and close to Archie. The atmosphere on this album is heavy, dark, and grimey, but still musically awe-inspiring. This album pulls together sounds from all genres and eras of music and mixes them together to make the sound of King Krule.
  3. sisterray24
    Oct 15, 2017
    10
    post punk jazz trip hop rnb extravaganza genres are blurred bent and twisted in the strangest and most original rock album I've heard from this decade, king krule is a true innovator which is hard to comeby nowadays
  4. whl95
    Oct 15, 2017
    10
    Archy's latest outing is his most powerful and complete under any alias, taking listeners on a grimy expedition through a mind on the brink. Dark, atmospheric and at times uncharacteristically tender, Marshall perfectly blurs jazz, blues, hip hop and rock elements as he reflects on the impacts of a harrowing breakup and the grind of urban life. It's easy to get lost in the varied soundsArchy's latest outing is his most powerful and complete under any alias, taking listeners on a grimy expedition through a mind on the brink. Dark, atmospheric and at times uncharacteristically tender, Marshall perfectly blurs jazz, blues, hip hop and rock elements as he reflects on the impacts of a harrowing breakup and the grind of urban life. It's easy to get lost in the varied sounds and lyrical complexities presented across the record, and every listen unearths new layers to what is nothing shy of a masterpiece. Long live the King.

    Essential tracks: Slush Puppy, Czech One, Cadet Limbo, The Locomotive.    … Expand
  5. switch_cat_mac
    Mar 12, 2018
    9
    I don't know where to start with this thing.

    Ok first. KK does such a good job of keeping everything interesting, all the time. He has really perfected the craft of what Frank Ocean calls "sonic goodies"--these tracks are always morphing, always have vector, always pulling the listener to another conclusion. There isn't one part of the album where I put it on and feel bored.    I don't know where to start with this thing.

    Ok first. KK does such a good job of keeping everything interesting, all the time. He has really perfected the craft of what Frank Ocean calls "sonic goodies"--these tracks are always morphing, always have vector, always pulling the listener to another conclusion. There isn't one part of the album where I put it on and feel bored.

    Sonically, he's doing fascinating work. Listening to this kinda reminds me of Tyler, the Creator--a tinkerer's spirit. Guitars woosh and shudder. There's so much space on this album. I'm gonna go on a limb here and say i can hear the jazzmaster in these records (i've seen it in some his videos). Many of the tracks, like Dum Surfer and Emergency Blimp, focus the guitars like a stone in the middle of the mix, and the jazzmaster is perfect for this: chunky, not a lot of sustain. Then he adds space and texture with... who knows what, but it works. KK has often been compared to dub, and I echo this. Dub, it turns out, in KK's hands, is the perfect bridge from his guitar-based style to modern sonic norms--on the faster-paced songs, the kick is dusty and hits hard, and the guitars and bass are all tossed together with it to get something that positively bumps.

    KK is so perfectly in control of his craft on this album, it's breathtaking. It's a master class in texture and song structure. He does so much with so little--just a little whine of feedback (or whatever it is) leads the listener deep into this ambiguous morass. Traditional song structure is almost completely obliterated here, and yet, the tracks never feel (to me at least, i know this was a point of contention for some) abstract just to be abstract. The songwriting and the sonic palette are always aligned, with the palette mirroring the lyrics, and accentuating the subject matter, and it seems at many times the song structure and the instrumentation are actively responding to the songwriting--in my mind I imagine Archy as a little kid, poking a dying snake with a stick, or maybe it's just pretending.

    The lyrical content on this thing is pretty stunning. It's clear that Archy puts a lot of thought into his lyrics, and it's clear that he really, really likes words. To my ears, he follows in a rich tradition of extremely literate British songwriters, recalling Morrissey and Alex Turner (yes I said Alex Turner). Thankfully this style is updated, and the irony is (mostly) stripped away, and we get some wonderfully sincere songs. My personal favorite examples of this are the dual Bermondsay Bosom tracks. The subject matter in general is quite dark and depressed, and internally focused, mapping some kind of internal, tortured mental topology. This does wear at points... unfiltered anguish is hard to listen for 60+ minutes. At times it does feel a little less than sincere, as all lyrics in music these days seem to be dark and internally-focused. But I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt here.

    There's more to talk about here. Album cover is fire. Shoutout to the saxophonist here, he does a great job of bringing in some rowdiness, and gives something other than the traditional jazz/pop horn section looks. I haven't even mentioned the jazz references; I'll leave that for other reviewers. The drum programming is excellent, as are the recorded drum performances (esp Deep Sea Diver).

    It's really one of the best albums of the year. Please don't make us wait another four years for the next one!    … Expand
  6. yaboirolex
    Apr 16, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Is just the best King Krule we can get, the rich, warm music with that LoFi vibe turned upside down and just made this set of unsettling, multiphasic and immersive hour-long experience which accomplishes too much, great production, unique set of songs, from really calm, sober songs like "Logos" and "Biscuit Town" to huge tension changes like "The Locomotive" and the grooves of "Half Man Half Shark", amazing.… Expand
  7. DavidWasHere
    Oct 19, 2017
    7
    I've enjoyed every album that Archy has made, whether it is under his own name or the name King Krule. And I enjoy this album too. It continues his unique blend of lo-fi indie rock, boom bap 90s hip hop, jazz, darkwave, post-punk, and whatever this hipster mad man can think of. And of course his unique thick English croon adding another texture to his aesthetic. Unfortunately, the album isI've enjoyed every album that Archy has made, whether it is under his own name or the name King Krule. And I enjoy this album too. It continues his unique blend of lo-fi indie rock, boom bap 90s hip hop, jazz, darkwave, post-punk, and whatever this hipster mad man can think of. And of course his unique thick English croon adding another texture to his aesthetic. Unfortunately, the album is hampered down by it's run time. It's over and hour long and it certainly feels like one! It's his longest album, beating out his official debut 6 Feet Beneath the Moon, and unfortunately there is a lot of padding and filler in the tracks, with songs that are either too short, drag out like the lead off single Czech One, or feels like demo songs that Archy decides to just keep on the album and not finish. I enjoy the album's moody atmosphere and there are a ton of standouts, like Biscuit Town, Dum Surfer, Half Man Half Shark, and the title cut, but I cannot say that I would rank it as his best.… Expand
  8. Music_Observer
    Nov 2, 2017
    8
    This is a nourishing feast for listeners who want to be challenged by the absence of rules, since the only thing this album stands for is to destroy the perception of “normal”, and it succeeds at finding true musical freedom through an excellent expansive sonic atmosphere but falls short of greatness by forgoing melodic shape and rhythmic variety, which should have been an easy fix givenThis is a nourishing feast for listeners who want to be challenged by the absence of rules, since the only thing this album stands for is to destroy the perception of “normal”, and it succeeds at finding true musical freedom through an excellent expansive sonic atmosphere but falls short of greatness by forgoing melodic shape and rhythmic variety, which should have been an easy fix given the vast experimentation around it. My Score: 135/180 (Solid) = 7.5/10… Expand
  9. ParallelPlatypu
    Oct 16, 2017
    9
    Just what I was waiting for from Archie; it takes the grimy spacey production from A New Place 2 Drown and the emotive, rhythmic guitar from 6 Feet Beneath the Moon and mixes them to form a dark, powerful piece which drew me in from the first baritone note on Biscuit Town.
    I can't stop listening to it, its long, its heavy, its personal, its not inviting, don't expect to feel much except    Just what I was waiting for from Archie; it takes the grimy spacey production from A New Place 2 Drown and the emotive, rhythmic guitar from 6 Feet Beneath the Moon and mixes them to form a dark, powerful piece which drew me in from the first baritone note on Biscuit Town.
    I can't stop listening to it, its long, its heavy, its personal, its not inviting, don't expect to feel much except a certain morose admiration for how Krule's musical flavor has been shaped both from within and without. Highly recommended.    … Expand
  10. guilhermehagler
    Dec 5, 2017
    10
    From punk to bossa nova, from r&b to jazz... You get King Krule at his best (and in different flavors) on "The Ooz".
    The album also makes a connection with Archy Marshall's previous works, which is amazing.

    Favorite tracks: Biscuit Town, The Locomotive, Dum Surfer, Slush Puppy, Logos, Czech One and La Lune.
  11. Pericowsky
    Oct 14, 2017
    8
    Incredible record in this 2017 what launched King Krule, is an album with touches of punk and even ska, this last genre very well achieved, with an influence of The Specials. It's a complex album, full of mysteries and it's wonderful to go slowly, the only negative detail is that it did not know how to be concise and is long.
  12. All_ButTrU4
    Sep 22, 2021
    9
    Solitude has always been archy marshals strength. Whether it's wallowing in it or weaponizing it in post punk tragedies he always has a clear grasp of an aesthetic. But with this record, arguably his magnum opus,he moves outwards although tentatively. Exploring a myriad of genres and themes displaying the maturity gained since the last release under king krule.

    The first song begins    Solitude has always been archy marshals strength. Whether it's wallowing in it or weaponizing it in post punk tragedies he always has a clear grasp of an aesthetic. But with this record, arguably his magnum opus,he moves outwards although tentatively. Exploring a myriad of genres and themes displaying the maturity gained since the last release under king krule.

    The first song begins with an observation of sadness as it mediates on the titular "Biscuit town" through his relationship with its inhabitants particularly a girlfriend he just can't get along with. The comfortable oceanic feeling feels reminiscent of being pulled in by tide. The following "locomotive " as it's namesake suggests addresses movement whether it's from a bad state of mind or environment . The idiosyncratic simple yet telling lyric("a subject to smoking.the platform sighs,'my empty emotion' ")summarises the relationship between drug use and depression. "Dum sufer" the aggressive alt.rock highlight takes a visceral delivery of a very mundane day with a worrisome homophone chorus that switches the title with 'don't suffer '. From the intrusive thoughts of death ("If we were commuting, this train would **** crash") to familial alcoholism ("her solvents dissolved') the album can become very weighted and dark . The bossa nova influence keeps it abreast. "Lonely Blue " gives a third person biography of a self destructive lonely man,one lonely despite those who love him being around . The atmosphere of cold rainy days is essential to the album and invoked throughout it's mention of water. The proceeding single "Czech 1" has a tortured artist ask for solitude making the distinction between isolation and solitude. Contrasting dualities bookend the album. Despite it's robust length, slow pace& interludes it holds it's own among 2017's impressive roster . Favourites:dum sufer,Czech 1,halfmanhalfshark    … Expand
  13. channel
    Jul 24, 2019
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Must say that King K created a naked but profound atmosphere, and it'll gently hold you in a cold painting state. Many Albums try to realize the same thing, though they make what they wish come true, they lost their emotion. Gratefully, This amazing album never make this self-defeating thing.… Expand
  14. ZzzGggg
    Jun 19, 2023
    9
    Один из лучших альбомов King Krule. Очень атмосферный, с годами становится только лучше при прослушивании. Biscuit Town, Dum Surfer, Logos любимое тут

Awards & Rankings

79
#79 Most Discussed Album of 2017
83
#83 Most Shared Album of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Record Collector
    Nov 13, 2017
    40
    The unpromising combinations separate rather than coalesce. The talented, pugilistic youngster’s best feels yet to come.
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  2. Q Magazine
    Oct 24, 2017
    80
    The Ooz can be dark and difficult. But it is also ambitious and delightful, reaffirming the delightful, reaffirming the delicate boundary between beauty and ruin. [Dec 2017, p.103]
  3. PopMatters
    Oct 24, 2017
    80
    This is, to date, the most complete expression of Marshall’s musical ethos, and it’s done in such an immersive fashion that it’d be foolish not to resist. Nothing released in 2017 so far has sounded anything like The OOZ, and it’s doubtful that anything will be as great, either.
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