OBERHEIM! – OBERHEIM! LP (Spacebucks Recordings)

An up-and-coming garage rock sensation, OBERHEIM!, recently released a self-titled debut album via Spacebucks Recordings. Consisting of six excellent compositions, this extraordinary band breaks the rules and shapeshifts the music of the conventional garage rock sound by incorporating many different but complementary styles into their tracks. Although this particular music genre dominates the most, these profoundly creative musicians spiced things up by adding some of the finest properties borrowed from krautrock, psychedelic rock, experimental rock, and avant-rock. These experimentations with many different but complementary music genres resulted in outstanding material that will suit anyone even remotely into these music genres.

Powered by brilliant ideas and superb musicianship, OBERHEIM! resonates with a fresh, unique, innovative, otherwordly sound. Each composition arrives with a comprehensive collection built upon marvelous vocal, sonic, and rhythmic maneuvers. They thoroughly planned all these songs, so you’ll notice how they come with a perfect structure, garnered with many intricate segments and outstanding instrumentations. Oberheim DX, a legendary rhythm machine, represented the sole core of their sound until the experienced Gothenburg drummer Pontus Torstensson (URAN GBG, Exorcist GBG, Tentakel) took its place. His cleverly assembled rhythmic patterns built upon dynamic, energetic, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics propel these songs to new heights while keeping the remainder of the band in line and dictating groove and pace. With a rock-solid rhythmic structure like this, the remainder of the OBERHEIM! has more than enough foundations to lay down impressive orchestrations.

Sebastian Jannesson (Melody Fields, Dirty Burger) profoundly detailed basslines rumble beneath the guitars, offering more than necessary heaviness, clarity, and depth while binding all the orchestrations with rhythmic patterns. Alongside Torstensson, he plays a significant role in delivering that rich, powerful, heavy foundation, making a perfect backbone for all the guitar layers to shine upon. In the meantime, Niklas Gunnarsson’s (The Population, Dirty Burger) raw, abrasive, fuzzy, heavily distorted riffs, chord progressions, harmonies, melodies, themes, leads, experimentation, and other sonic maneuvers decorate every song. His guitar work makes this epic sonic journey so enjoyable to the ears that you’ll spin this material over and over again. Pontus Westman’s (CP Westman, Lady Banana) vocal performance spices things up to an entirely new level while commanding attention and guiding listeners through all these songs. His seamless balance between low, mid, and high notes emphasizes all these orchestrations with precision and finesse.

It’s nearly mindblowing how these experienced musicians assembled all their tracks. Each composition gradually develops a profoundly complex atmosphere thanks to stacking multiple layers of instrumentation and experimentation. Unlike many other artists, OBERHEIM! does not lose the intensity, power, and energy along the way. Quite the contrary, they keep their song at the same tempo continuously, allowing listeners to grasp the addictive, hypnotic, mesmerizing sound. It’s a must-listen-to all true garage, psych, krautrock, experimental, and avant fans. Head to their Bandcamp page for more information about ordering this garage rock gem on vinyl.