Oceanray – Oceanray​/​War Plugs

Artist: Oceanray
Title: Oceanray​/​War Plugs
Keywords: punk ambient american primitive avant garde drone experimental instrumental jazz krautrock loops nashville noise post-punk post-rock psychedelic Swansboro
Label: sweet sounds records

Drums. Probably being hit by someone who holds drumsticks in the hands. Not to be confused with the drumsticks commonly referred to chicken bones with meat around them, but the long pointy round sticks that are mostly made out of wood. They are sounding very prominent in the first track of this release, banging their presence loud and clear, making way for other instruments just enough to not be a complete selfish solo act. We have electric guitar and bass that have had no fear to enter the drummer’s terrain & somehow just managed to find a way to join in (I presume) without evil stares from the percussionist. Of course we might not see this all happening as it’s a case of listening, but I believe their collaboration was done without egos being trampled upon & with all the instrumentalists’ respect still fiercely intact.

Together they somehow worked effortlessly to create a tolerable work that probably might wear the burden of being labeled ‘psych rock’ or some other genre tag of this order. Personally I felt not the most impressed, but thought it was nice to hear that the musicians didn’t bang each others heads in & stayed calm in their ability to make something acceptable to hear for any stage of the day. I heard it while in the forest, quietly pissing off the dog walkers and ‘quite time’ nature lovers. The chit chatting and singing bird communities that couldn’t stop flying around my head clearly didn’t give two shits about wether or not I played this music here.. how socially tolerant of them.

There are two tracks on this release, the first one’s personal experience I described as good as possible above, the second one I will do around here… this one feels a bit more as if they found some more equality among them. The musicians, all three of them, seem to be more like a pact, creating this kind of a track that goes a bit under the nerve system, probably catering to the drunks at a party in which most people had already left. It somehow made me think of surfing surfers doing stunts on waves and going for bar fights at nights. I can’t explain why, but that’s the thing I expect them to go for. It’s a lot of banging and poking here on these instruments, with four by four kicks and guitar works that seems a little rough around the edges. It’s not bad, the birds in the forest chirped through it; so they either might seemed to enjoy it by cheering it bird-style on, or either didn’t really give a damn about it. Personally I felt that it went on a bit long, losing my interest before the end bit had been reached.

I don’t think the drummer or the guitar and bass player would give two cents about my opinion & that somehow feels like a right that serves them well! Who cares about music ‘reviews’ any way? It’s all bullshit, besides all fun is in the hands of the creator & in this case I don’t mean God, but these three individuals stuck together as ‘Oceanray’. You do your thing, we do whatever it is that we do! Glad you dropped these two tracks, wish you all the best & Good luck with it!
https://sweetsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/oceanray-war-plugs
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