OH CONDOR :: Press

Midweek Mic Drop: Emergency Psychic
I’m always waiting, patiently I might add, for something that grabs hold with a form of nostalgia, yet fully footed in the present. It isn’t a game of mimicry, but something at least filled with passion. Dayton, Ohio’s Oh Condor just may fit that profile I want to swipe right on for a number of reasons. Although the band has been kicking around in one form or another since 2002, it seems it has hit its stride with this year’s Emergency Psychic, released just last month.

The band’s latest album follows up Reflector, a 5-song release which dropped back in February. The EP was just as punchy and seemed to experiment a bit more in structure while Emergency Psychic shows the band making its way through with realized ideas and a strategic delivery on the full-length. With Oh Condor’s latest, the band finds a comfortable space nestled between post-punk and the dreaded (gasp!) emo tag. But let’s not pretend that we haven’t heard great songs come out of the subgenre. In fact, I still listen to some groups that wrote amazing songs. (I even made a wrong turn recently purchasing an old Flu Thirteen album that’s not as good as I thought the band once was. But that’s a story for another time.)

Emergency Psychic is a solid release, opening with the dissonant notes of “Bought and Sold,” which leads one to believe they’re moving one way but then burst into strum-strum melodies, reverting back again with dissonance but melding it with melody. This seems to be the story of the band, which I’m all for. There’s a pop sensibility throughout the album which is something we can all get along with. “Mind The Gap,” with its spoken vocal delivery before the entire band drops into the frenzy for this stormy ride, with harmony filled choruses. A gooey bassline coats “Clear Coasts” which is accentuated by distorted guitars that allow for empty space to linger over drumbeats. All this and the band can get melancholic without losing any of the fervor on “Long and Gone.” Yeah, I’m in.

With Emergency Psychic, the 4-piece that makes up Oh Condor is able to capitalize on its ability to mesh all their instruments together and pull out melodies & harmonies over healthy backdrops of distortion, heaviness, and sometimes an ample amount of dissonance. Yeah, again, I’m in. .
- Diego Flores / Ghettoblaster Magazine (06/30/2021)

The Silver Lining: Emergency Psychic
One usually doesn’t think of Midwestern industrial cities when one thinks of indie rock bands, but Dayton has produced more than its fair share. Guided By Voices, Brainiac, and The Breeders are names that should be familiar, and they all call Dayton home. Oh Condor is another such band, trying to work their way to top of mind like these other bands. Their latest effort to do so is “Emergency Psychic,” a sweeping LP that ranges from dissonant and skittish pop to mathish indie to hazy shoegaze. Some of the tracks are easy and relaxed, while most are frenetic and jittery. “Zero Return” is one in this latter category, not exactly math-rock, but with the uncertain feel of that genre, like you aren’t sure what’s going to happen next. The track has a nervousness anxiety to it that makes it hard to sit still. Juxtaposed against that is “Handwriting Police,” a track that’s fuzzier and more introspective sounding, dare I say dreamy? I enjoy the play of indie rock melody against frenzied guitars in “Clear Coasts,” and the alternation of cacophonous and breezy sections of “Bought and Sold” is cool. It’s pretty hard to pin down Oh Condor, which is usually the mark of a good band.
- Paul Silver / Jersey Beat (05/21/2021)

The B-Side: Oh Condor
Fuzzed out 90’s influenced indie rock will always have a special place in our heart and Oh Condor has just planted their flag there with “Bending Negative.” There’s a healthy Mascis/Barlow-ness going on here musically, with overdriven guitars riding above a loose groove that give it a decidedly slacker rock vibe, but vocally Oh Condor gives us a bit more verve and pep than is usually associated with that genre. It’s both familiar and fresh at the same time and reminds us that grunge was never a fad, it was just an evolution of the timelessness that is rock n roll.
- Postcard Elba (06/02/2021)

Premier: Emergency Psychic
Oh Condor brings a high quality style of indie rock that is gritty, passionate and forward moving. The record has a recognizable injection of some classic indie attitude that you would find with a Jawbox or The Dismemberment Plan record while having a touch of shoegaze sway of a Swervedriver. Honestly, if you told me J. Robbins was involved in this project, I would believe you as Oh Condor’s Emergency Psychic possesses a perfect blend of noise and melodic rock.
- Christopher Anthony / The Fire Note (05/19/2021)

Spin It: Oh Condor, Reflector Ep
Although Oh Condor's musical roots can be traced to '90s indie rock, their production is a little too slick for lo-fi, too ambitious for slacker rock and too fun for shoegazing. The quartet's Reflector Ep, which hit the streets via Gas Daddy Go today (February 28) showcases a scrappy and ambitious Dayton, Ohio-based quartet capable of and committed to chasing down moments of pop and rock brilliance and setting them to tape. And though the EP is short, any of the cuts in this collection of indie rock songs is capable of holding their own with Arches of Loaf's "Wrong," Pavement's "Cut Your Hair" and Superchunk's "Hello Hawk." None of this is tremendously surprising considering the strength of the band's formidable back catalog of self-released albums and EPs. From the squealing synth intro of "Shoot First" the band jettisons out of the gates at a breakneck clip. Brainiac fans will crack a smile at the baritone vocal gobbling that recalls "Sexual Frustration," and modern rock fans will pause at the Franz Ferdinand-like temp change. The muscular guitar lines on "Windsor Knot Ontario" are among some of the finest Oh Condor has ever conjured, and the dual vocal delivery is scrappy and endearing. Capture this EP before the limited-edition release is extinct.
- Tim Anderl / Dayton City Paper (02/27/2012)

You've Been Believed (Minor Manor) - The Big Takeover
...alterna-rock that wouldn't sound out of place in the early '90s. The opening "I Wish You Weren't Horrible" as well as a few other tracks such as "Tunable Ghosts" are laden with heavily delayed guitars, which appeals to my psychedelic side. The songs are full of hooks that mostly remind me of old Soul Asylum for some reason. There are even some neat synth noises to add to the texture.
Chuck Foster / The Big Takeover (Issue 67)