"it still feels like the end of days..."
The older you get you really come to understand how short life is and that with every opportunity and crisis you can find blessings and expand your understanding of what our short lives mean. I thought about that and also how our lives feel (in the end) sewn in the fabric of our own destiny when I felt myself floating in the beautiful and serious flow of "Flattened" by Oliver Future formed in Austin, Texas in 2002. It is a song moves on percolating synths, cleanly defined trippy sounding guitars that bend in space and feel percussive with palm muted notes, a pushing forward beat and a vocal aesthetic that feels sort of stoic, yet comforting, sort of sage like but bruised up too. The overall sonic atmosphere Oliver Future creates feels edgy and ethereal blending in bits of folk rock, 70's psychedelic rock and 80's space rock too. Did I in between the spaces feel ever so slight hints of Pink Floyd, Electric Light Orchestra and the Fab Four even?
I get lost in my own thoughts every time I listen to the track, a good sign and I hear new elements of sound, layers of subtle production, another good sign. "Flattened" is from Oliver Future's upcoming full length "A Year at Home" dropping any day now (2022), their first record in 14 years. A new sonic stitch in their band's time and fate. If you dive into the press notes below (I always include them) you will see that there journey to this album from their beginnings in 2002 when they first formed as Oliver Future, comprised of Noah Lit (guitar / vocals), Josh Lit (vocals and keyboards), Jesse Ingalls (bass and piano) and Sam Raver (guitar), to now has been full of glorious high points and unexpected punches in the gut. Like friends or families that deconstruct and (sometimes) come together. That is life I suppose and all bands I know meet people along the way that lift them up and knock them down with out even caring.
One thing is for sure all the messy stuff usually makes great fodder for meaningful songs. "A Year at Home", was recorded remotely in studios in Austin and Los Angeles during the lockdown of 2020-2021. Professional session drummer Jimmy Paxson added his talents and record producer / musician Adam Lasus (who had recorded them previously as well as Yo La Tengo, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Juliana Hatfield, Mark Mulcahy and many more) mixed the record.
Life is a trip as they say.
-Robb Donker Curtius
* * *
I get lost in my own thoughts every time I listen to the track, a good sign and I hear new elements of sound, layers of subtle production, another good sign. "Flattened" is from Oliver Future's upcoming full length "A Year at Home" dropping any day now (2022), their first record in 14 years. A new sonic stitch in their band's time and fate. If you dive into the press notes below (I always include them) you will see that there journey to this album from their beginnings in 2002 when they first formed as Oliver Future, comprised of Noah Lit (guitar / vocals), Josh Lit (vocals and keyboards), Jesse Ingalls (bass and piano) and Sam Raver (guitar), to now has been full of glorious high points and unexpected punches in the gut. Like friends or families that deconstruct and (sometimes) come together. That is life I suppose and all bands I know meet people along the way that lift them up and knock them down with out even caring.
One thing is for sure all the messy stuff usually makes great fodder for meaningful songs. "A Year at Home", was recorded remotely in studios in Austin and Los Angeles during the lockdown of 2020-2021. Professional session drummer Jimmy Paxson added his talents and record producer / musician Adam Lasus (who had recorded them previously as well as Yo La Tengo, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Juliana Hatfield, Mark Mulcahy and many more) mixed the record.
Life is a trip as they say.
-Robb Donker Curtius
* * *
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://oliverfuture.bandcamp.com/track/phases-of-the-moon
https://www.instagram.com/oliverfutureband/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0jexcQ7XkMPTPi0IpkZXIN
On February 18, Los Angeles-via-Austin band Oliver Future will return with their first new record in 14 years. "Phases of the Moon" is the first taste from 'A Year at Home', out in early 2022. The album recorded remotely in studios in Austin and Los Angeles during the lockdown of 2020-2021.
Oliver Future was founded in Austin by Noah Lit (guitar / vocals), Josh Lit (vocals and keyboards), Jesse Ingalls (bass and piano) and Sam Raver (guitar) in 2002. The band made several records in Austin before being moved to Los Angeles by their management company in 2005. The management company (and their stipends) disappeared quickly, and the band found themselves stuck, too poor to move home. Luckily they met Adam Lasus who had also just moved to LA via Brooklyn and just had a hit record with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. He recorded the band and together they released Pax Futura which was picked up by KCRW and became a critical success. The band was a fixture at Spaceland and The Echo. They toured the country several times over and played Austin City Limits Festival. Additional highlights for the band include performances on Morning Becomes Eclectic, support from NPR Music, high-profile performances at SXSW and a set at Sunset Junction Music Festival.
Then, in a perfect Los Angeles story, just as the band started recording their next record, a famous artist decided to abscond with the rhythm section. Jesse toured the world and won a Grammy, Josh, Sam and Noah stayed home and made another record as Oliver Future, 2008’s In Event of Moon Disaster. Shortly after the album’s release, they decided to disband and Sam, Noah and Josh found their way back to Austin.
Shortly after returning to Texas, Noah and Josh became co-owners of Batch Craft Beer and Kolaches, a popular East Austin destination for craft beer lovers and foodies alike. The successful brothers and business partners were still eager to create new music and in 2019, they asked Jesse if he wanted to come back to Austin to play a show as OliverFuture. The show was a sold out lovefest at The Continental Club. While it was billed as a proper goodbye show, the fun of playing together was undeniable.
Fast-forward to Summer of 2020 as the drudgery of lockdown and the pandemic continued, Josh, Noah and Sam started getting together to jam in their studio. The music instantly sounded like Oliver Future. They contacted Jesse, who remembered two of the songs they were working on before the breakup, Phases of the Moon and I Can’t Take It. The rest were written bouncing tracks over email and text. The final touch was bringing Adam Lasus back to mix the record. The result is what the band describes as the most effortless recordings they ever got to do.
The music, just like the band, is a bit of an anachronism. Sam and Noah’s electric guitar riffs blaze over Josh’s vintage keyboards and modular synthesizers. Meanwhile Jesse’s bass keeps the groove along with session playing pro Jimmy Paxson on drums. Noah and Josh trade lead vocals, and blood harmonies. The result is modern but familiar. Sci-fi indie rock played in large empty venues. Album rock in an age of snippets.
Oliver Future, indie rock, Austin, Los Angeles, psychedelic, folk tones, 70's rock tones, post rock, "Flattened", new birth, new album, 'A Year at Home', full length, new music, 14 year lapse,
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