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about this album
A better sound, better personal attacks on jerks, and more suburban-transplanted angst. Etymology, the 17-track album by Oyster Boy, was more than a year in the making. Single tracks ("Renewal on Bowery," "My Ugly") had been available to the general public since circa Summer 2010, but the entirety of the work was slow to arrive. Fully-arranged, the graceful piece earnestly conveys Oyster Boy's message of "Shit, New Jersey. Now I can't even look at New York like a normal person. Thanks a lot." The addition of the use of many-tracked vocal backings, saxophone support, and some more nuanced melodic structure (perhaps made possible by the added instrumental flexibility) make some of Etymology very memorable. Some portions feel underworked (the lack of depth in parts of the otherwise exemplar "Low Generation"), but the sheer richness and variety of album-ending "Avalon" can make the listener wonder, How long did Oyster Boy put off finishing Etymology? What portions were finished long ago and what was scrambled? This is worth pondering especially given the fluidity of this album's mentality and tone. Here's to hoping he makes the entire album listenable on last.fm! User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
