We thought we would try something different with the review. Both Kerri and I have something to say about the new Oceanator. We have been texting back and forth every time we are listening to this album and both of us have been heavily moved by Things I Never Said. Here are a collection of impressions from Kerri and I about this amazing new music.
KERRI: Someday when I am sitting around with my grandkids, I know they are going to ask me what it was like living through the Pandemic of 2020. I imagine my answer will mention masks and maybe attempts at sourdough bread making. I will probably remember how my kids and I tried to watch every Friday the 13th ( do you know there are 12 of them?!?!) As far as music, Oceanator will probably go down as my Pandemic soundtrack. It was released at the end of August 2020 and entered my life at the same time. Like many, I was coming up for air after being on lockdown and unemployed. I was starting to see the sun and some friends. The album Things I Never Said has been a saving grace for me during this time.
JASON: I’ve been religiously buying lots of music off bandcamp every first friday they waive their fees except when Oceanator released this album. I immediately purchased the digital download as well as the cassette. Ever since that cassette arrived Ive been listening to this record on repeat. When the digital files were released I would listen while mountain biking the trails around franconia NH. Music fills my headspace most often when Im outside. The pacing of this album is so right on for listening straight through Records that start out really strong is something that I really appreciate and I think drummers and former drummers know the power of kicking off a show or a record with a punch! Each tune flows into the next one so well, I daydream about how the first two songs played live might segue into each other. The way this record sounds imparts a lot of sonic personality. No surprise that Eva Lawitts and Chris Krasnow of Wonderpark Studios handled the production. The guitar tone is so thick and has such a great bite to it. The way that Elise’s vocals sound works so well with everything else. The sound is heavy but not at the expense of being able to hear the lyrics.
At a time when so much indie rock sounds overly pop or glossy, Things I Never Said has a sonic punch and bared teeth that gives the impression of true feelings and a rawness that is really needed right now.
KERRI: Let me start by saying that I think this album is epic both musically and lyrically. If I listen to an album the first time and it speaks to me, I know I am in for a treat as it starts unleashing more of its nuances and details. Things I Never Said hit me like a tidal wave on first listen, it tells a story of love, loss, and love again. It is brutal at times, resurrecting feelings of insecurity and nihilism and hopelessness. But it touches those spaces in such a palatable way with so much light and bounce that it is an easy listen.
JASON: I have something wrong with my brain, I don’t really hear lyrics until Ive really digested the music. This album really struck me with the honesty and directness of the lyrics. They are poetic but not at the expense of utility of communication. The delivery of the the lyrics, the melodies and song arches are just so perfectly honed on the album.
KERRI: I felt like it was telling the story of the pandemic, of the life we were all thrown into without much preparation; the fear and worry and despair we all felt (which honestly, is not too unlike a relationship).
The album opens with Goodbye, Goodnight which is a song about endings. It comes in strong with Elise’s strong guitars and killer voice. A Crack in the World says “ It’s not what you wanted, but it’ll do” with the statement of “ who knows if there will be a tomorrow “ dropped in. It is dark and broody without being too dark and broody, and believe me, that’s a hard line to walk. Sometimes I felt like I was listening to the words scratched in a journal, while slightly afraid that someone was peaking into mine. Needless to say, I could relate. We all can.
JASON: I was listening to the broken record podcast interview with Rick Rubin and Flying Lotus and they were talking about how some artists create albums that build on an idea or approach to music. Listening to this album feels like an extension of all the music that has come before it, the next surprising steps as Elise grows as a lyricist and musician. Recently I went back and listened to the EP that she put out in 2017 and it is remarkable how far the music has developed but also how true to the original vision in the first EP. The first time I heard Elise perform it was back in 2016 when Vagabon and Bethlehem Steel played at 42 Maple in Bethlehem NH. The show opened with Elise playing solo, most likely early embryonic versions of her tunes from the first self titled Oceanator EP. She went on to kill it on drums with Vagabon. That was the best show of 2016 that nobody showed up to… We kept in touch and after a bit we had the pleasure of hosting her band at The Loading Dock in 2018. Looking back at the photos now being shut down for 6 months I can’t help but get wistful about past shows. This one in particular was super amazing.
KERRI: As a 9 track album, it really hits its stride at song 3 and 4 with Hide away and January 21st. Hide Away is an opus, a 6 minute song with many twists and turns. It has a few different flavors and by the end you feel like you have been on an epic journey.
“Now we watch as our world comes to an end, we hide away and wonder how many afternoons we have left.”
I am not sure I have a favorite track , but January 21st is definitely in the running. I identify with this song, especially the line “ I think I think too much”. It is a simple, yet complicated song musically. The twists and turns and highs and lows of this song are really something.
When I described this album to my husband, I said that it has amazing lyrics and songs of many genres. Tracks 5 and 6 have some 80’s inspired beats and synth and more. I Would Find You sounds straight out of a kick ass John Hughes movie I would have watched obsessively.
Track 7, Walk With You, is totally 50’s inspired with a doo-wop type feel.
Elise showcases her killer guitar skills on The Sky Is Falling.
The very last song on the album, Sunshine, brings it full circle, the idea that we come out of hard situations and we carry on. “I’m going outside today, I’m feeling like things might be OK”
That line has become a mantra of sorts in these ever changing times. Music always makes everything better for me, and this album is one of the things that has made life bearable during these freaky times.
photo by Zach Sar