Tag: Oliver Houston

Music Wire #3

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We’re almost through the first quarter of 2017. An hourglass expires faster than it did just a few years ago. Age makes the past fleeting. Time moved slowly, but as life advances time does too.

Memorable music has already built a narrative to remember this year by. January brought Uniform’s blistering sophomore LP Wake in Fright. I was fortunate to seem them in February at The Hideout.

Oliver Houston and Code Orange also released great records as well. Japandroids may end up owning this year when it’s all over. They had steller sold out performance at The Music Box this past Saturday.

I happened to catch Craig Finn (The Hold Steady) and his new band The Uptown Controls open that show. Great song back stories with his songs. His new solo album We All Want the Same Things drops later this month.

Looking forward, Volumes seek to dominate this summer with Different Animals starting June 9th. Real Estate, Joey Bada$$, and others will also seek to dominate their respective scenes too.

Migos has already solidified a spot on many’s end of the year lists. There’s a long way until January so who knows what the rest of the year will bring.

 

It Works

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I’ve been listening to emo for a long, long, time. I read and gave copies of Andy Greenwald’s Nothing Feels Good to friends. In high school it was the word I used to describe myself and who I associated myself with.

It’s a scene I carry a great deal of affection for, especially for the 90’s era. When American Football or The Promise Ring tours or releases new music my teenage hope of hopes have been answered.

So many new bands have such obvious influences from this period of emo but have little to no diversion. They’re either carbon copies or poor imitations.

You see more bands that were influenced by Thursday or Pg. 99 creating more authentic music. Oliver Houston is the only band I’ve heard recently that sounds like 90’s midwest emo but yet their own.

Whatever Works came to me as a complete surprise. They’ve proclaimed their refusal to use status quo music business tools to promote their album. While I found the band through a sponsored ad, it’s something they paid for and directed at people like me.

The songs are short and accomplish what takes their musical influences five or six minutes in half the time. Take “Pho” and “Bernie” which have the gorgeous melodies of Braid but complements them tasty guitar licks in an average time of 2:08 minutes.

“Concession” has hooking almost west coast riffs that just cruise down the beach all the way through. The vibraslap in the beginning doesn’t hurt either.

Unlike most of the 90’s emo bands, Oliver Houston depends on the riff not the pretty melodies. They’re just the complement. Bands like Mineral had chorded parts but the arrangement was based on some scale.

Take “Tough Luck” which has a great bass line that transforms and charges up with snare rolls into a beautiful scene of plucking harmony.

The highlight of the record however, and what separates the band resonates on “Tom Quad” and how it champions something emo isn’t known for: rocking! Just take the guitar chorus. The riff tastes crunchy and the drummer just crushes the open hi-hat.

Its solo makes you want to air-guitar. I’ve never written that about any “emo” song, ever. There’s something unique here I haven’t quite experienced from this scene before.

These guys grew up on the same nothing feels good records I did but clearly their palate extends beyond sad and depressed music.