UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA - II

Ruban Nielson's follow-up recordings as UMO do not disappoint, similarly sequenced to his debut with a mix of bouncy breakbeat funk-pop and psych/garage detours (with the latter approach nearing Chrome-finished menace both tonally and lyrically on surfy sci-fi chugger "No Need For A Leader"), strong vocal performances (especially, for this writer, on his most soulful take to date, second advance single "So Good At Being In Trouble"), and inventive guitar playing with a near-classical intervallic flair that befits the last part of that goofy band name surprisingly well.

"...[T]here’s the rickety strut of lead single 'Swim and Sleep (Like a Shark),' with its gentle wish to 'swim and sleep like a shark does,' a line whose childish syntax neatly decorates Neilson’s yen for emotional lobotomy. For a New Zealander who crossed the Pacific to prosper in Portland, Neilson has a remarkable grasp on the nature of stasis. All this is delivered, refreshingly, without irony or self-awareness: UMO opt for nifty and direct lyrics that charm with morbid honesty while eschewing self-loathing. Beneath the isolation blues, II is buoyant and visceral enough to suffuse its existential cloud with a redemptive joie de vivre by way of the playful talent inherent in its creation." - Drowned In Sound

"...II feels more complete in its ambition; it's a warmer record that, instrumentally at least, heads more in the direction of The Beatles ('The Opposite Of Afternoon') than the mind-expanding riffs that their debut was slathered in... Unknown Mortal Orchestra's focus on a lazier psychedelia ('So Good at Being in Trouble') that better suits Nielson's androgynous voice is what allows this record to stand out in what is fast becoming a crowded field." - Altsounds