Monday, April 18, 2011

The Okay Win- Common Nature

The Okay Win is an indie band from Boston who plays great music. I really, really love their sound. It's soft and intimate at times and loud and engaging at others, but either way, it always sounds wonderful. I was planning on just sitting around and reading my Atari Force comics with this in the background, but I ended up putting Martin Champion down to give this my whole attention, cause it deserves it. This album comes out tonight at midnight, and you've gotta check it out.

"Buzz Armstrong" grabs you right off the bat with a really cute intro, and then transfers well into sultry guitar and drums. Then Stephen MacDonald starts singing, and I just adore his voice. He's got the classic voice that just makes everyone stop and listen. Soon all the instruments are tying in together perfectly, and it's got this bubbly, soothing sound that ties together perfectly. It's the kind of music I want to put on when I'm painting. Does that make sense? Because that's how I view good music. I either want to dance to it, scream along with it, or paint to it. I want to paint to this. It's got a lot of interesting sounds tied into it.
"Still Fall" is one of my favorites. It has amazing lyrics, and the music makes me think of mermaids.. I'm just gonna let that sentence stand alone. But emphasis on mermaids.
"Huff" is REALLY CATCHY. Also, side tracked... As soon as I saw the title, I immediately thought of pre-teen boys huffing that computer air duster stuff... Sorry. It's not actually about inhalants, though. Don't do inhalants. Anyway, the guitar/bass lines all tie in perfectly together and entwine with the vocals of Stephen to make one big fun song.
"Just Fashion" is fucking wonderful. The lyrics are the best on the whole album, and as usual, the instrumentals are extremely talented also. Stephen MacDonald is a wonderful singer/songwriter, however, he doesn't get all of the glory. Ryan Ward, JM Craven, Adam McElreath, and Dave Chardo are all really talented to. I (obviously) don't know who plays what line, but the 3 boys on guitar all sound great, and I have this soft spot for talented bassists, cough, Ryan. Not in a creepy way or anything. We're bros, is all.
"We Won't Sell You Out" has the most amazing intro. It's also a really long song. Actually, the whole album is full of long songs. It takes almost an hour to listen to all 10 songs, but that's almost an entire hour is great music. Cool, right?
"One To Have" is a little bit heavier than everything else. It's still soft, but you know, in a heavier way. Like a comforter compared to a fleece throw, you know? Or not. Anyway, I love it. It sounds somewhat like Only Thieves. Not much, but enough to make me think of them. The bass line is similar to "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield at times. Do you hear it? 
"Right" melts my heart. Nuff said.
I really only take the time to mention every single song on REALLY great albums, so yeah.
"Spin (Everyone's Got Gold)" is a chill song. That's the only way to describe it. It's just chill.
"Common Nature" is long as fuck and I'm so glad it is. If I were The Okay Win, I would name the album after this song too.
The album finishes off with "Our Trade" and it closes up the album perfectly.


Such talented boys. Love on them.
-Bear

1 comment:

  1. Sounds great!!! I heard this was all done in the drummers basement or something too....

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