British folk group Oh Man, The Mountain return after their first EP with the two track single “Floodplain” to give us a flavour of what’s to come in the near future.
Crossing over the folk and country roots guitars, that are played more like a rock track but have a distinct twang to them, “Oh no, the Swamp” plays out like a cautionary tale. The driving drums, guitars and doubled vocals push home a journey where as the chorus is more string focused and broodingly understated. Keeping the organic feel, the recording has a gritty live feel to it so that instruments clash and piece slightly. “Rorschach” has a blues feel to it as the guitars riff away over tick-tocking banjos and wood blocks. This track see’s the octet really jamming out in unison. The strings, the guitars and vocals all drive together to really make this dark folk rock tale burst into life. However the recording’s rough round the edges and the big crescendo after the middle section actually sounds awkward to the ear when everything goes for it at once.
It’s funny because the first EP didn’t suffer from a poor recording and peaking and it puts the brakes on what is a solid single. Maybe it’s a full live jam and that’s why it’s recorded this way, but I hope for upcoming releases to continue to show Oh Man The Mountain as a troupe to watch in the folk land.