O Monolith – Squid ★★★½

Year	Album	Artist	Stars	Score	Genre
2023	O Monolith	Squid	★★★½	77	Rock	Alternative Rock	Post Punk

With O Monolith, Squid puts together a tighter album that cleans up some of the meandering moments on the band’s 2021 debut, Bright Green Field. In doing so, however, some of the character of the first album is missing, replaced by more heavy-handed production and intricate math-rock elements that can really wow you at times but don’t always get where I want them to go. 

The standouts on the album are “Swing (In a Dream),” “Undergrowth” and “The Blades.” On “Swing (In a Dream),” pivoting guitar lines syncopate through an irregular time signature, drum features and soloing trumpet melodies break up the verses, and an undercurrent of deep synths create a rich, full sound, while Ollie Judge opts for a more traditional vocal delivery that heightens the seriousness of the track. The creaky guitar riffs and swagger on “Undergrowth” match more of the tonal energy of the band’s debut, with more sounds like bells and synth strings that complement the brass section as the elements slowly fold together over the course of the track. “The Blades” uses intricate staccato guitars and a combination of drums and sound effects to build towards an explosive rock climax and shows off Squid’s full potential as songwriters and innovative musicians. 

A lot of that innovation and experimentation is shown throughout the record, but sometimes it doesn’t fully work. “Siphon Song” has what should be a good build, with a big, rewarding finish in the end, if you have the patience to sit through it all. “Green Light,” has a really cool, intense presentation but probably could have used a little more to build up the tension. 

Overall, it’s easy to appreciate Squid’s technical prowess and their growth and maturity in sound from one album to the next, but they need to find a way to capture the rawness of the first record with the richness of the production on this one.