Review: Ovlov-TRU

Band: Ovlov Album: TRU Genre: Lo-Fi Indie, Shoegaze, Midwest Emo Label: Exploding in Sound Score: 7.5 Ovlov is a band which comes out of a scene that is one of the last true vestiges of DIY that has managed to get signed, get attention, and release quality material without selling their souls to the marketing gods of major Indie labels or marketing teams. This scene Ovlov is in can best be described as ‘PBR Indie’. It’s rough around the edges, sounds like it would fit better at a house show than a concert venue, is influenced by Midwest Emo but with an added kick of testosterone, and is dominated by bands which feel authentic; which is hard to get today in the age of Clairos and Boy Pablos. The last time Ovlov released a full scale project was in 2013, a much different time than today in the world of music. This was the year Car Seat Headrest was still a Bandcamp underdog, Daft Punk dropped their biggest hit, and Death Grips were still new to the ears of almost everyone. So it's safe to say that it's “been a while” since we’ve heard a full length project from Ovlov. 2013’s am was a loud, noisy, and wonderfully melodic DIY record that made great use of an overarching atmosphere that felt amatuere enouth to sound like it came from a local scene, but musical enough to actually be quality-and it was. Am blew the doors off the hinges of what DIY was capable of on Bandcamp. Songs like ‘Where’s my Dini?’ especially proved this point, with its nostalgic mathy guitar arpeggios and breakdown into ruckus and catchy noise rock. ‘The Great Alligator’ was even better, and contains one of the best moments in Indie Rock of the last decade: the guitar soloing and noisy chaos at the end which extends for almost 4 minutes. It is loud, it is booming, it is something that you’d expect someone to stage dive off an amp into a crowd of 20 some year olds after chugging a beer on stage. Simply put: it is amazing. The difference between am and TRU can best be summed up as a reigning in of this chaos to a more produced and focused direction. The guitar lines of TRU tend to be less noisy and far less chaotic with the band seemingly more focused on creating a much more sequential album. A big problem with am was exactly this; a lack of focus on sequencing the songs on the album. This gave am a bit of a persona though as something thrown together in the course of a week or two. TRU obviously can’t give that impression as there were singles which were released well in advance before the record was released. This was not the case on the last record. The reigning in of the guitar is not all bad though, in fact it provides for a much more accessible album for most listeners. TRU strives for a much warmer atmosphere rather than an abrasive one. This allows for songs like ‘Baby Alligator’ to exist; a song that can best be described as skateboarding around the suburbs at dusk in 2004 with the soundtrack of Burnout 3 playing in the background. If this sounds oddly specific its because it’s supposed to be. The first few tracks on TRU really show Ovlov on their A game though. There is a flow of energy from song to song that really never lets up and the sequencing works fantastic. If Ovlov was going for a more mature 13 minutes of music they managed to do it quite well. Unfortunately though, this means as the album continues on there is a lack of variation that makes many of the songs on the B side enjoyable but forgettable. It is unfair to call these tracks filler, but in the grand scheme of things they could most certainly be better. Ovlov pulls the fat from the fire though near the end and closes the album with another fantastic and riffing Indie Rock song just like they did on am. ‘Grab It From The Garden’ feels like it could have been on am and that makes it truly enjoyable. Ovlov does the best as a band when they let loose and just go on with their guitar wankery and they should do it more often. TRU is a worthy album and should not be dismissed by any fan of DIY. It is by far one of the best DIY Indie albums to come out this year and is leagues above the material released by contemporary followers Hovvdy this year. Although the album feels more subdued and as a result less energetic and more homely, Ovlov don’t completely lose track of their roots and manage to present them in a way that is often times more immediately enjoyable. Is it a continuation of am? Of course not. Why should it be? But it is sequential by design of am and feels like natural progress and growth for the band that has been silent for so long. It’s good to see them back.