Guys, I like it: “Land of Steve-O” by Ovlov

I’m an old fart. There’s no reason to beat around the bush about this.

I’m almost 40 and I don’t understand why the kids like the thing that the kids like. This extends to everything, but it includes music. If you’ve read the blog, you’ll notice that it’s 75% me talking about old music, 10% me talking about drinking beer and 5% me talking about my kid (the reason I’m drinking the beer, amiright?!?!).

This is not to say that I’m not interested in new music! Oh no, I am interested in new music very much! I try to find new music to listen to almost every day. So why do I never write about new music? It might be in part that when this blog started, it was practically a vehicle designed exclusively for me to listen to new music and make fun of it. It later became apparent to me that people liked it more when I picked a band like Pearl Jam and just made fun of them instead. So that’s mostly the kind of thing that I’ve done.

But there’s another thing to not beat around the bush about: Nobody really reads this blog and nobody cares if I post one thing or another thing. I’ve had such a good time posting about music that I love lately (while posting about Nirvana, mostly), that I’ve decided to pop in for a little write up whenever I come across something new that I love.

I listen to a pretty good pile of new music every week. I have to give credit to the staff at Brooklyn Vegan, as they compile an extremely comprehensive list of newly released singles every weekday. It always includes the big mainstream pop releases, but also includes a lot of independent stuff and punk/metal stuff that would most likely be left out of another website’s new releases round up. So I check out these lists all the time, and I’m always finding great new tunes this way.

I could just name this kind of post my “Song Of The Week”, but that doesn’t really seem like something that I would say. It’s not a dumb enough sounding thing to say for it to be something that I would post here. Also, just because something is my song of the week doesn’t mean that it will be your song of the week. So I’m just going to say that I like the song. Guys, I like it.

This is also the only time that I’m going to write a novel as an introduction that explains why I’m doing this.

Ovlov – “Land of Steve-O”

You know when something is new, but it kinda sounds like things that you liked a long time ago? Not in a rip-off or derivative way, but in an “influenced by but fresh-sounding” way? That’s how I feel about Ovlov. I like their other records a lot, and this new tune off of their forthcoming album Buds is one of my favourite songs of the month so far.

Being a fan of 90s bands like Hum and Grandaddy, this kind of tune just tickles me up and down. The laid back guitar shuffle and understated vocals of the verses set the stage, and then the vintage Under The Western Freeway-era Grandaddy sound of the chorus pushes the song into irresistible territory.

The completely fuzzed out, but melodically appealing vibe feels so nostalgic to me. I should be listening to it on a discman. The track’s send off is a gonzo guitar solo that is absolute 90s slacker-pop heaven. I don’t feel as though this band is copping their sound from any other act in particular, but they’re so clearly influenced by music that I adore, and they so refreshingly update the sound… I just can’t help but love it.

I can’t wait for this record.

Guys, I like it.