OCEAN GROVE - Up in the Air Forever
Written by: Tom Wilson @thetomwilsonexperiment - Sense Music Media | Tuesday 19 April 2022
2020 sucked, but it sure had a good soundtrack. One of the most surprising releases of that year was Flip Phone Fantasy, the sophomore album from Melbourne’s OCEAN GROVE, blending party-starting energy with the crunch of turn-of-the-century nu metal. Released, rather unfortunately, in March 2020, its live performances were quickly smothered by a tidal wave made of hand sanitiser and panic, but while it never got the touring it deserved, Flip Phone Fantasy still turned plenty of heads. The only question is, how do you follow that up?
Flava opens the proceedings sounding like the world’s heaviest sunny day – sparkly synths dancing underneath an absolutely massive riff that wouldn’t be out of place on a SKINDRED record. The hook is irresistible – good luck getting it out of your head once you hear it. Sex Dope Gold bubbles with youthful, irresponsible energy, with a massive guitar and soaring vocals that will make you want to backflip a motocross bike off an office building. First single Cali Sun continues the “heavy beach party” vibe, and the track is so good you can almost forgive them rhyming “world” with “world”. Silver Lining is a huge ballad that will have an ocean of lighters (or phones) held aloft at gigs in the near future. HMU enlists LIL AARON for two minutes of shimming hip-hop and bounce. Bored sees O.G. hook up with DUNE RATS for a mid-paced stomper that erupts into an infectious gang vocal. You know when you hear a song and just know it’s going to kill live? Yeah, that. This vibe continues through Noise, with a huge chorus that’s mixed to hit you like a freight train every time it comes around. Silence opens with skittering guitarwork that soon erupts in a massive bounce of fat riffs and samples. Up in the Air Forever closes things off with a track that sounds like pure DEFTONES worship – synths glinting and dancing atop ocean-sized guitar riffs and unfurling, crooning vocals.
Contrasting this with their 2016 album Black Label, you’d swear they were two completely different bands, but with the amount of lineup reshuffles they’ve had over the years, it’s understandable. Up in the Air Forever dials back the aggression of previous releases, but doubles-down on OCEAN GROVE’s uncanny ability to write massive hooks. Checking nu metal’s trademark angst at the door to focus on having fun, O.G. definitely don’t take themselves too seriously, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t put the work in when it comes to sounding good. This album sounds amazing. O.G. are the kind of band that will give nu metal fans the same rush of adrenaline they got the first time they chucked on a SUPERHEIST album as a teenager. The thick, massive riffs. The synths. The huge production. Somehow, though, it still feels contemporary, not some exercise in genre nostalgia. Many music journalists crowed that nu metal was dead by the mid-2000s, and they may have been right … for a while. But like any good horror movie villain, it wasn’t going to stay down forever.
The Verdict
Up in the Air Forever doesn’t overstay its welcome. They’ve trimmed any fat, leaving nothing but premium Oddworld goodness. Strap yourselves in.
8/10
Up in the Air Forever is out April 22nd on UNFD.
Pictured: Dale Tanner, Sam Bassal + Twiggy Hunter - OCEAN GROVE
Photo by: Michelle Grace Hunder @michelleghunder
