SE DICE BISONTE, NO BůFALO

Omar Rodriguez Lopez's solo career continues to prove how it's extremely worth listening to with Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo, which is likely one of the moodiest, most emotional displays of his talent out there. While the playing style applied here often bears heavy similarities to that of The Mars Volta, to the point where you've got an early version of a song from Bedlam in Goliath on it, there are so many interesting differences between this album and anything from TMV or really anything that Omar made beforehand, to the point where it ends up feeling like an undeniably essential album for ORL fans. Even Rapid Fire Tollbooth reveals just how many fundamental differences there are in terms of approach to music despite blatantly being an early version of what would become Goliath on The Mars Volta's next album. Rather than a constant auditory assault or even just a song with a lot of energy, Rapid Fire Tollbooth feels strangely lethargic, lingering on each note for what feels like a tiny bit too long. This has the effect of giving the song a very unique atmosphere that's drenched in anxiety and an ominous tone without ever resorting to ORL's typical frenetic style. This all ends up culminating in a song that sounds and feels entirely different to its later counterpart despite having the same basic skeleton, and it represents the album pretty well as a whole, where it continues to have this sense of familiarity while also being entirely different.

Most of the album goes for a more abstract, jam oriented approach and I feel like it works exceptionally well to bring more focus to how tonally strong it is. The title track, Thermometer Drinking, Lurking About in a Cold Sweat, and a few other songs all follow a pretty similar structure, just applied to different soundscapes. You've got these varied backdrops for Omar to go wild and play guitar over, sometimes sounding glacial, building off this one idea for extended periods of time, but other feel far more fast paced in their direction, as if it already knows where it wants to go and wants to reach that point as fast as possible. This is especially interesting when it comes to the title track, one of the 3 songs here that gets Cedric to come on as a vocalist, and this is the one that I feel makes the best use of him. To reinforce the theme and direction of this album, the words he sings here are completely incomprehensible and obscured by a plethora of effects. As such, it feels as if all these frivolous elements of the music have been stripped back and left the listener with a vocalist who is singing with pure emotion, with any hints of coherency that sneaks through solely serving the purpose of elevating this. The somewhat sluggish first half of this also has the additional benefit of making the intensely passionate climax in the 2nd half feel all the more satisfying, and acts as a perfect representation of one of the most intriguing songs in ORL's discography.

Outside of this, there are a couple of other noteworthy tracks as well. The version of Please Heat This Eventually is a pretty interesting case, as while it lacks Damo Suzuki's presence, which was my favourite aspect of the EP version of this, there's a much greater sense of focus here that feels as if it never wastes a note. I still think that I prefer the expansive madness of the ep version but both of these are completely fine ways of experiencing this great song. The closing track is mainly worth mentioning for how unapologetically chaotic it is, once again utilising Cedric's vocals in a fun, unconventional way, in this case to further contribute to the total insanity by wailing in a completely offputting, yet strangely fun way, and it just closes things off in a really neat way. Overall, Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo is a truly wonderful experience that feels like it's Omar exploring just how much can be achieved with his style without ever trying to fully abandon it. Undoubtedly what I'd consider to be his finest solo moment up to this point, even if he'd manage to outdo himself just one album later with Apocalypse Inside of an Orange. This is definitely one of his most popular albums for a reason, total classic.

Best tracks: Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo, Please Heat This Eventually, Lurking About in a Cold Sweat