Album Review: Urge Overkill - "Oui"

 

First album in over a decade from Minnesota veterans Urge Overkill, it's good to see Nash Kato and Eddie Roesser back again (sadly long time drummer Blackie Onassis is no longer with the band) with a new effort. Back in the '90s, the group offered a more suave and stylish take on the grunge formula with their Saturation album and I was intrigued to see, following a respectable previous effort in 2011's Rock 'n' Roll Submarine, how well the old magic was bearing up. 

It has to be said, Oui doesn't get off to a good start with a sloppy cover of Wham's Freedom which just sounds like a pub covers band trying to do the song and lacks the stardust of the original. The creeping A Necessary Evil is a better place to start the album with its tale of dysfunctional self-destructive relationships which has exactly the sort of sinister cool that informed UO's best stuff.

Overall, Oui is a workmanlike Urge Overkill album rather than a standout one but that's not to say there isn't plenty of good stuff on here such as the reflective How Sweet The Light, the chugging Forgiven and the soaring Totem Pole. The ZZ Top style boogie of A Prisoner's Dilemma and the sinister semi-acoustic Litany also show that they've still got the ability to chuck in the odd curveball here and there to keep the formula interesting. The only complaint I've got is that it just lacks a bit of the sparkle that the group seemed to have so effortlessly on Saturation and Exit The Dragon way back in the day - arguably all it really needs is something like Positive Bleeding to elevate it up from being good to great although the riffed up Won't Let Go comes close.

To be honest though, it's just good to have this band back again and even if Oui isn't quite up to the standard of Urge Overkill's imperial phase stuff, it's still a competent effort with plenty of decent tunes on it which I'm sure will go down well with their fanbase. Not bad at all.

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NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑🌑 (7/10)

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