"as I wake up to the loudest sound of my life / I miss the minute prior / Still in my peace / Made a friend who lacks the ability to cry / But only really if you need to see tears..."
Life can present complete unfettered joy and it can emotionally kill you. For some reason the ying / yang of it all, the bi-polar extremes feel artfully present on the crunchy abstractions of "Looking at The Ocean" by L.A. based alt rock / avant pop singer-songwriter / multi-instrumentalist Kevin Nichols. I flat out love this track. To my ears I feel late 80's and early 2000's touchstones and from the onset Nichols' bouncy, surprising roller coaster vocal melodies riding on super heavy indie rock sonics feels like a collision of artists like Pavement and early Smashing Pumpkins. The nimbleness of the vocal melodies and the lyrics that feel saturated in an existential crisis or two or (at least) asking hard questions filtered though youthful angst feels totally refreshing and relatable. There are key markers in all our lives, after all, usually poised around grief, that make us grow up faster than we expected and might manifest as scar tissue around our heart. I can feel that kind of turmoil within "Looking at The Ocean".
Check the cavalcade of keeping off track
In my hand I won’t let go of all this broken glass
Cuz I’m not losing that
Won’t loosen up my grasp
But no one’s there in fact
And all of this in my head
In my head"
I love songs that not only surprise me but have great sonics. This song is sonically rich. Great drum sound and playing courtesy of Aaron Farinelli. Nichols does triple duty playing all guitars, bass and all vocals. Nichols has a great, great voice for this sound and I really dig his guitar playing, lead and all. The urgency of the song, jammy but still feeling subversive, artfully sideways but completely catchy works on many levels. Genre wise in attitude and approach I still do feel the 90's and early 2000's colliding, a crunchy blend indie rock, post grunge, nerd rock and art rock. Great track. Expertly produced, engineered, and mixed by Grammy-nominated/platinum record producer Alex Newport at Tiny Creatures in Joshua Tree, CA.
"Should have known that no help was coming
I’ll open up my head some so you can climb in cold
I’ve only done it twice and that was enough
On the screen I can see what’s coming
They’ll open up my head some until their stomachs full
What has life become but the killing of time
just waiting to die"
"Looking at The Ocean" is from Kevin Nichols' third full-length album, "Empty Out Who You Are".
-Robb Donker Curtius
https://linktr.ee/Kevinpichols
https://kevinnichols.bandcamp.com/track/looking-at-the-ocean
California's Kevin Nichols delivers fresh, fuzzed-out expression and direct, pointed emotion in catchy ear-candy bops for everyone. With two albums and two EPs under their belt, as well as a new full-length record on the way, Kevin has been featured in Fortnite, BrooklynVegan, Bandcamp Daily, SPIN, and more. From 2017 to 2022, Nichols toured extensively across the West and Southwest, building a devoted fanbase in clubs and house shows. After spending three weeks in the Mojave Desert with Grammy-nominated/platinum record producer Alex Newport, Kevin's third full-length album, "Empty Out Who You Are" was born. It is a deep exploration of personal history, delving into the childhood wounds that linger and haunt. It serves as a poignant reminder that one can never truly return to a home that no longer exists; some doors in life can never be reopened. Through their music, Nichols navigates the process of shedding the weight of yearning for innocence once more and embracing the poignant truth.
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://linktr.ee/Kevinpichols
https://kevinnichols.bandcamp.com/track/looking-at-the-ocean
California's Kevin Nichols delivers fresh, fuzzed-out expression and direct, pointed emotion in catchy ear-candy bops for everyone. With two albums and two EPs under their belt, as well as a new full-length record on the way, Kevin has been featured in Fortnite, BrooklynVegan, Bandcamp Daily, SPIN, and more. From 2017 to 2022, Nichols toured extensively across the West and Southwest, building a devoted fanbase in clubs and house shows. After spending three weeks in the Mojave Desert with Grammy-nominated/platinum record producer Alex Newport, Kevin's third full-length album, "Empty Out Who You Are" was born. It is a deep exploration of personal history, delving into the childhood wounds that linger and haunt. It serves as a poignant reminder that one can never truly return to a home that no longer exists; some doors in life can never be reopened. Through their music, Nichols navigates the process of shedding the weight of yearning for innocence once more and embracing the poignant truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment