It’s
been a while since I’ve been as intrigued about a new album as I was for The Rhapsody Tapes, Melbourne-based
hardcore outfit Ocean Grove’s debut full length. The band’s sound has warped
and shifted hugely over their brief career; from their sharp, snappy – and a
little generic – metalcore sound heard on their early material, something new
and fresh has been gradually emerging. This mix of nineties nostalgia, weird
imagery, a goofy stage presence and wildly unpredictable musical directions was
first visible towards the end of their Black
Label EP, and more so with the stand-alone single “Lights On Kind of
Lover”.
The thing that had me so closely waiting for
this release was that despite this obvious gradual shift towards something new,
I was completely in the dark about exactly what this something new would look
like when realised fully in a debut full length. The two singles released in
the lead up confirmed my thoughts that The
Rhapsody Tapes would be a wildly schizophrenic and frantic collection of
songs; “These Boys Light Fires” was a kind of Nirvana throwback mixed with the
immediacy of modern punk, while “Intimate Alien” was so odd it defied a
definitive genre (but is so damn catchy!).
With The
Rhapsody Tapes having now arrived, it’s biggest weakness is something that
we all carry into our listening experience; our own expectations. Regardless of
what kind of expectations you might bring to The Rhapsody Tapes, they are more than likely to be completely
shattered. This isn’t exactly a weakness to be found in the music itself, but
rather something that is unavoidable in terms of how it will be received. The
band’s “mission statement” of sorts states that “if you’re consuming our art with any pre-conceived notions or
expectations of how it should be presented then you will find yourself
extremely disappointed; we would rather fade into obscurity and die out than
live prosperously in a pigeonhole of mediocrity.” (The full statement can
be found here.) Being able to experience The Rhapsody Tapes in this context lets you fully immerse yourself
in what the band has labelled “Odd World”. Not a genre, not an idea, not a
statement, but a place of imagination and expression from and for those born with
their head around the wrong way.
In most cases an album like this might be
considered unfocused or lacking cohesion; for some this may be the case, but
for me I was too busy admiring the many positive things this album has going
for it for it to be too much of an issue. The two major positives on this album
are bassist Dale Tanner’s voice and drummer/producer extraordinaire Sam Bassal.
Tanner provides a warmth and grit to the band’s sound that is sorely missing
from a lot of the other bands in the scene, and he comfortably holds his own in
album highlights “The Wrong Way” and “Mr. Centipede” when Luke Holmes’ screams
our almost completely omitted. A lot of the time in heavy music the
“scream/sing/scream/sing” formula is a trap into convention, and rarely does it
lend itself to an identifiable, unique sound. In Ocean Grove’s case Tanner’s
voice is vital to what makes their sound their own, and is all the better for
it. 19-year-old Bassal’s drumming is dynamic and exciting, but his biggest
strength and perhaps biggest contribution is his skill as a producer. The
entire album was recorded and produced in his bedroom studio, and while this
might have spelt disaster, he has done a fine job. There are moments that do
become a bit of a wall of sound, the instruments folding in on each other in a
bit of a mess, but for the most part he has done a pretty fantastic job.
While on the topic of production, I have to
mention another main contributor to the band’s sound, being studio member
Matthew Kopp, known by his own fans as producer Running Touch. The best thing
he has going for them for me is a fresh perspective from outside of the heavy
music scene. It is possible to be caged in when you’ve been touring and playing
and recording the same style of music non-stop, and so having an outside
influence has had a visible impact on the band’s sound on this album. Songs
like album opener “What I Love About A Natural Woman”, “Thunderdome” and “Slow
Soap Soak” have his most obvious finger prints, but his influence is felt
throughout in an album that always feels like it’s finding new ground.
For me I think that is this album’s biggest
strength; while there are definite influences to be heard, you never feel like
you have heard anything exactly like what you are hearing. This is also
somewhat of a drawback for me, because on repeated listenings the lack of
cohesion and tendency to jump genres becomes more noticeable after the initial
shot of adrenaline to the heart has worn off. The Rhapsody Tapes is a phenomenal collection of catchy, fun and
heavy songs, but when they are put together in this package it never quite
feels like a complete project so much as a collection of different ideas. Some
people will disagree with me on this point, and I can certainly see the
thematic “Odd World” through line and aesthetic that holds the songs together,
but for me this has become more of an issue the more I’ve listened to The Rhapsody Tapes.
Having said this, The Rhapsody Tapes is a helluva lot of fun, and I enjoyed it a lot.
Like I said before, any preconceived ideas about what The Rhapsody Tapes will sound like will undoubtedly be shattered,
and this is both the album’s greatest strength and weakness. Just try to get “Intimate
Alien” out of your head.
Favourite
Tracks: The Wrong Way, Intimate Alien and
Mr Centipede
Least
Favourite Tracks: From Dalight
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