Artist Of The Day: Oak

When I included this little French band in my first quarter update, I figured not many people were going to know about them. Heck, before about halfway through March, I didn't know about them myself. But once I took a listen, I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. Oak's Not Afraid Anymore takes on the kinds of sounds that appear in Mogwai's Les Revenants, a slowly creeping sound that establishes an aura of ghostly fear, and then it broadens into a dark post-metal jam that easily matches up with Russian Circles' riffs on Empros. The coolest thing to see, though, is the band hearkening back to when post-rock artists didn't care about song length. Their most impressive work is absolutely "ER, 2am," probably the darkest thing I've heard this year. It crams so much misery into ten minutes that it feels like the song could go on forever, and there would never be a break from feeling anything but an eternal pit of despair. And despite releasing a 40 minute effort in January, the band lets their Facebook page know that they're back in the studio, working away on the next biggest thing. With so much promise in the first full-length, I can't wait to see what else they're coming up with. Bring on the sadness, Oak. I'm ready.

You can stream and download all of their music on their Bandcamp page.