Accepting an algorithmically generation suggestion from Spotify, I was pleasantly surprised. American Indie Rock outfit Ovlov's third album is a brief one, only clocking in at twenty four minutes. Its eight cuts all inhabit a shared culture. Humble tones, a rural breeze, simplicity and humility scales into roars of lively dissonance. The group compose human, Folk like songs, driven by warm acoustic shimmering and earnest voices. It all gets whisked into dense frenzies. With a sense of routine, over-driven guitars explode, expanding dynamics and shelling the warmth with swells of fuzz and grit. The frothy distortions challenge the listener with harsh, muddy textures that somehow ooze into the gentle foundations with a thick hazy glow.
Its got charm, a sound that sucks one in! On closer examination, its clearly simplicity in writing that is the winning approach. Much of the esoteric and unusual chemistry is derived from the jagged shoe-gazing textures. They cast a magical spell but underneath, the simplistic short riffs and chord plucking loops are what the songs hinge on with just a few simple constructs at there core. The human, raw, personal feelings emanate from superb vocal harmonizations, conveying emotion with a blunt tunefulness that is never overstated or over engineered. Just the tones alone.
One pointed component that mostly lands are the scratchy, harsh guitar solos. Brief and to the point they rattle off like a flair, grabbing your attention and swiftly fizzling out. With an ear for the noisy and unusual, speedy wild fretboard manipulations rattle off at apt times. Its the lens of texture that they push the limits, peaking the audio and inviting the harshest of sounds. Sometimes they inhabit melody and offer times its an exploration of noise. I mostly enjoyed it but the dissonance wasn't always potent.
Not one considering myself to be "into" Indie Rock, this has certainly challenged my notions. The parts of that genre most recognizable are enjoyable alongside its explorations of Shoegazing and Noise Rock. I'd certainly enjoy more on this track. Not entirely original of groundbreaking, its the execution and earnest, humbling inspiration that makes this music glow. An interesting find! I may explore further.
Rating: 7/10