Music Review:Music Review: "The Same Place" by The Olivia Tremor Control
Ending on a high note
Music Review: The Same Place by The Olivia Tremor Control (Ending on a high note)
While it lacks some of the lo-fi and noisy charm of some of The Olivia Tremor Control’s 1990s output, “The Same Place” is a good album with decent music and does a good job of saying goodbye to The Olivia Tremor Control.
After the loss of two frontmen of the band, Bill Doss and Will Cullen Hart, I personally thought The Olivia Tremor Control wasn’t going to release any more music at all, but other members of the band chipped in using a combination of recordings from many parts of the band’s history and new instrumentals and vocals from surviving band members. Because of this, it feels like the album tries so heavily to say goodbye instead of going on another sonic adventure like their first two records.
The song “California Demise 4” in the back half of the album is a great example of this. The song title infers that it’s a direct sequel to “California Demise 3” from their album “Black Foliage: Animation Music Vol. 1.” Instead of being the jaunty, sort of jolly song that “California Demise 3” is, however, the new song feels like it’s reminiscing over those past times, looking back similarly to how someone at the end of a scenic drive looks back on all of the sights they’ve seen.
This looking back aspect extends to many songs in the back half, like “Now Begin,” a song that sounds more somber than “California Demise 4,” adding an extra element of strings to accentuate the melancholy of the second half. The song honestly felt like the band were finally realizing that it would finally be the end of their music output.
That is to say that the album doesn’t still have more experimental moments within it. My favorite song on the album is “The Spinning Continuous,” a six-minute song full of energy and effects that put me straight into the mindset of their songs from the late 90s. The lack of lo-fi elements honestly makes this song sound closer to a song from The Olivia Tremor Control adjacent band Circulatory System, who released music primarily in the 2000s.
That leads me to how the album sounds in general. This album doesn’t sound like anything else the band has released in the past, especially when you listen to other bands that are adjacent to The Olivia Tremor Control. This album sounds a lot more in-line with many albums in the same scene in the 2000s, especially when you factor the lack of lo-fi production and how much less experimentation is present production wise on the album.
Overall, I enjoyed this album, and it served as a good way to say goodbye to the band. Although the production isn’t the same, the psychedelia and 60s pop influence stays all the same. If you enjoy this album, listen to Circulatory System’s self-titled album and “Sea Change” by Beck.
Comments