Ocean Alley review
written by Luis D’Jesus
It’s nice to know that the Australian scene in Vancouver is alive and well, for the sake of all the tourists, travellers, and settlers (Also for myself who has a small affinity for Australian Dream Pop). Last night while waiting outside the Commodore Ballroom I was greeting by many “I’ve been waiting so long for this”s and “how excited are you?”s, and only one, “shrimp on the barbie,” jab which was quickly corrected by a genuine Aussie with a, “it’s ‘prawn’ not ‘shrimp’ and we don’t throw it on a ‘barbie,’” settling it once and for all in my mind.
Inside the venue the mood was hardly different. I walked into a balladous performance by The Morning Yells, whose huge stadium rock/folk could easily fill up an arena. Their folk purity fills the soul with nothing less than momma’s hearty chicken soup. I would advise the sound engineer to tone down the bass, as it makes the atmosphere seem “club-wannabe”, as opposed to a more wholesome setting. The beat isn’t infectious, and it shouldn’t be, so it shouldn’t be highlighted as much. The melodies soar and the guitar jangles and that’s what I’d like in my ear hole the most. The 5 piece is as harmonious as you’d want, bar-none. Everyone holds their own and is a confident figure up on stage. Siblings Phil and Laura Stancil combine to be a confident figurehead for the band, Phil’s long hair swaying in the breeze and all. The backing band is solid, Laura’s bass is a rock solid foundation, Trevor Smith’s rhythm guitar is paddy, Jacob Boll’s keys are voluptuous, and Curran McDowell’s drums are built to last. There is nothing here that warrants a complaint. It’s front to back wall of folk/rock with larger than life lights and strumming summer guitar. Kudos to you.
The rock/psych/surf power generated by Ocean Alley from start to finish was nearly electrifying. They purely gave it their all whether rocking or taking it mellow, a balance the band seems to have a masterful handle on. After the opening romp “Bones”, lead vocalist Baden Donegal flexes his world news muscles and makes a comment about the Toronto Raptors and yea, we’re all very proud of them (They even won their first finals game earlier in the night, huzzah!). Other than that, he kept pretty quiet in between songs. There was the occasional “How you doing?” or the like, but otherwise not so much with the story-telling or crowd hyping. The band itself seems like it could at any moment break out into a set of jazz standards, with the level of professionalism bordering on low-key boredom. And yea, it’s mostly a chill show – at the height of enthusiasm drummer Tom O’Brien took off his shirt, quite early in the night I might add.
The set was very well managed, many ups and a few downs, emotionally and otherwise, to even things out. The middle section was my favourite, including “Partner In Crime” and featuring Lach Galbraith performing a rocking keyboard solo. Afterwards “Flowers and Booze” had me at my highest hype, followed by chill comedown “Holiday” with a small train-wreck ending. It was a nice triple punch. Right then Baden whips out a Gibson SG, which, in conjunction with their opening call out to fellow Aussie’s AC/DC (they came out with “Hell’s Bells” playing on the speakers), completed the aesthetic. The hard rockish piece “Overgrown” did justice with SG, and that’s what I have to say about that. Their own hype gains steam around this point, going into their Player cover, “Baby Come Back,” which they put out last year for triplej’s Like A Version, a crowd favourite. Following this they announce it’s their last song (heard that one before) and jump into “Happy Sad”, a huge venue filler. Enormous sound on this one. Not a terrible finisher if it were to be that, but we know better.
After a short walk off, the band jumps back on stage, basking in the glow and admiration from their heavily supportive audience. A hush falls over and the opening lines to “Lemonworld” come into existence. This is such a hard/chill song. Do I sway, do I dance, do I jump? It’s hard to decide, dealers choice. It drips with emotion and leads the way to the bands indisputable hit, “Confidence”, a natural ender. One of the group’s catchiest hooks and most interesting sonically, with a wah-wah infused lead guitar, a funky as heck bass, and lyrically very supporting and uplifting. It’s a great word to describe the band as they pave forward with a refreshing sound, confident.
©nightMair Creative.com
all rights reserved
written by Luis D’Jesus