Cold Cold Shoulder
Cornelius Chapel, 2020
10/10
Terry Ohms last record, Terryfirma, impressed the hell out of me, and he’s upped the ante significantly with the guitar focused and sonically engaging new effort, Cold Cold Shoulder.
“King Of The Mountains” gets the album off to fine start with strong guitar work and crisp percussion as Ohms bridges alt-rock and Americana with fantastic results, and “Rock Of Gibraltar” follows with a stylish delivery of nearly dance-rock where a shimmering qualities hints at post-rock, too.
Although there’s just 8 tunes, each one leaves an indelible mark, including the classic rock influenced and energetic “IMO JSYK BTW”, while “All In The Past” adds a dreamy quality to the versatile song craft where nods to the ‘80s make this one the best of the best.
Late album highlights include the hypnotic, feedback friendly “Making The Most”, where a casual approach seems effortless for the multi-instrumentalist, and “That Song” exits the listen robustly, where a dense setting flows with both power and melody.
Ohms is now 8 albums deep, and much like his previous work he wrote, recorded and played all the instruments on every track. If there’s a better songwriter out there who’s living in relative obscurity, I don’t know who that would be, as I can’t imagine anyone not repeatedly playing Cold Cold Shoulder with unending excitement and anticipation.
Travel well with: Austin Lucas- Stay Reckless; Sarah Lee Langford- Two Hearted Rounder