To say that the last five years (give or take) have been less than charitable to bassist Nick Oliveri is a polite understatement. Since his eviction from the bass seat in Queens Of The Stone Age, Oliveri has bounced to any and every outfit goodly enough to have him – from The Dwarves to The Blag Dahlia Band to Turbonegro to Winnebago Deal with one-off stints elsewhere in addition to maintaining his name as a solo act – with little to no notice or fanfare. That isn't to say that his efforts have been below par, in fact some have been pretty solid performances; the problem has been that Oliveri made his name as a rhythm section sideman and he has been unable to break out of that box in the years since. He has been a journeyman player and, while remaining very active as a musician, is still one of the most obvious, recently-added names to the list that comes up as soon as one utters the immortal words, “Whatever happened to…?”
That nagging question may indeed be why Death Acoustic took on the form it has. Collecting tracks from the series of bands of which Oliveri has been a part and written with over the last decade (including Queens Of The Stone Age, Black Dahlia Band, Kyuss and Moist Boyz to name only a few), Death Acoustic recasts each of these ten songs into compositions that put him at the center; except it leaves everything open to interpretation. On one hand, because none of the songs are all that new, naysayers will balk that Death Acoustic is nothing more than a dust-sucking trifle from a wayward bassist but on the other, with the right set of ears, the album starts to sound like an effort to answer a whole lot of questions, bring listeners up to speed and and hints at Oliveri's plan from here on out.
Either way, whether listeners are familiar with Oliveri's solo work or not, Death Acoustic is guaranteed to put them squarely on their collective ass from the opening flamenco-ed folk punk rampage of “Start A Fight” and he doesn't break stride to take a breather from the obvious exertion either. Immediately following that initial salvo and all the way through tracks like “I'm Gonna Leave you” (previously recorded by Queens Of The Stone Age), “Love Has Passed Me By” (Kyuss) and “U Blow” (Moist Boyz), Oliveri howls, screams and flies with a passion and fire that's so unnerving and surprising to hear, it actually takes a minute to realize that there is no additional accompaniment to his voice other than one enormous-sounding acoustic guitar. Death Acoustic is a genuine solo record in that regard but, because it was produced so densely, it doesn't feel spare in spite of the minimalist approach because there is no available space left in the mixes.
As the record progresses and the songs keep battering listeners at every turn (perhaps as a move toward an aural form of Stockholme Syndrome), listeners find that they begin to really feel the music because, with no escape and no adorning baubles like a backing band to distract from it, the quality of Oliveri's interpretations begins to grow on listeners. Eventually, one can't help but wait excitedly to see what he'll try next as one song fades into another and the ideas never fall flat. Oliveri stretches out creatively to jump from aggressive and unhinged howl to decent and melodic vocal takes as the sentiment of a given song requires and by the time he reaches “Follow Me,” he has managed to engage listeners so much that they'll heave a sigh of relief at the gentility of the song's treatment.
Of course, then he beats them to a bloody pulp with a cover of GG Allin's “Outlaw Scumfuc.”
In Oliveri's performance of "Scumfuc," Nick Oliveri reveals that any and all moves in the previous nine tracks were simply a ploy to lull listeners into a false sense of security and because of that closing track, the former QOTSA bassist betrays that he is the most dangerous kind of sociopath: he can be earnest and giving and seem to play his heart out for people to illustrate some form of catharsis, but then he'll happily rip the rug out from under them and snap their necks – every single one – while they're sprawled out on the floor. It's a terrifying predicament – this Death Acoustic – yet, even as it closes and Nick Oliveri leaves listeners feeling cheap and used, there isn't a soul within earshot that doesn't hope he'll do it again – soon.
Artist:
Official Myspace – www.myspace.com/nickoliveri
Album:
Death Acoustic comes out on October 6, 2009 on Impedance Records/MVD Audio. Pre-order it here on Amazon .
