Portland, OR trio OGRE aren\u2019t here to make things easy for you \u2014 and honestly, thank them for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their latest single, Hair<\/em>, is a gloriously contradictory beast: plodding and groovy, hypnotic and abrasive, the kind of track that locks you into a riff and then detonates sonic landmines around you while you\u2019re helpless to do anything but nod along. If Devo and Gang of Four had a noise-rock lovechild raised on Motown basslines and krautrock, this would be it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What makes Hair<\/em> a particularly exciting moment in the OGRE story is the emergence of Grace as a full-fledged vocal force. Her delivery is cool, militant, totally unperturbed \u2014 even as the music around her is going wonderfully haywire. \u201cEarly on, Nils and I were the main vocalists, but turning it over to Grace on this track opens up thrilling new dimensions,<\/em>\u201d says Ace. Grace, for her part, is characteristically laid back about the whole thing: \u201cI\u2019m like the George Harrison of the band.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The origin story is equally endearing. The track was written just one week before the band hit the studio \u2014 a spontaneous burst of scattershot creativity sparked after Grace finished beauty school, which she\u2019d been attending throughout the recording of their album Bryan. As for the subject matter? \u201cIt\u2019s about the biological relevance of hair growing on heads and crotches \u2014 it kind of came out gross,<\/em>\u201d she laughs. Naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But beneath the tongue-in-cheek weirdness, there\u2019s some serious musicianship at play. Hair<\/em> spotlights OGRE\u2019s signature two-bass attack in full force, with Grace holding down a deep, dub-inflected pocket while Ace goes full chaos mode on top. \u201cGrace really set Ace free<\/em>,\u201d Nils explains. \u201cHe can get experimental with noise while she lays down the foundation<\/em>.\u201d The result is a track that\u2019s as tight as it is unhinged \u2014 and that tension is exactly what makes it work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n