Album/EP

Ocean Grove - Up In The Air Forever (Album Review)

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

Apr 18, 2022

7 min read

Ocean Grove – Up In The Air Forever
Released: April 22, 2022

Lineup:

Dale Tanner | Vocals
Twiggy Hunter | Bass/Vocals
Sam Bassal | Drums/Studio Guitars/Production

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“Positive Mental Attitude” is the biggest theme screaming from not only their new album Up In The Air Forever, but as a mantra for Ocean Grove. Having had all plans around their previous album, Flip Phone Fantasy, derailed thanks to 2020, along with some lineup changes behind the scenes, keeping that positive outlook has come to define the band’s mission.

And after stunning the Unify audience back in March, Ocean Grove continues that buzz with ten tracks of some of the sleekest and brilliantly-crafted rock I’ve heard all year, combining a 90s-style mixture of grunge, hard rock and punk, with a few other flavours throughout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmseoUIZ1Y8

Up in The Air Forever is loaded with some epic rock moments that pop thanks to some polished production by the band’s drummer and the all-around heartbeat of the trio, Sam Bassal. The huge riffs that adorn tracks like ‘Sex Dope Gold’ and ‘Cali Sun’ beckon you to turn your speakers up just that little bit louder with every track, while those who love their synths won’t be left behind with colourful moments like ‘Flava’ and the dancefloor filler ‘HMU.’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRIEE5DrhO8

Anthems are aplenty on this album, including the single ‘Silver Lining’ and ‘Bored’, the latter delivering one of my favourite hooks from the album, one that’s sure to induce a crowd singalong on upcoming shows.

Ocean Grove’s main vocalist Dale Tanner seamlessly crosses a wide vocal range throughout the album, delivering hip hop rhymes on tracks like ‘Bustin,’ sneering out some Aussie punk vibes in ‘Noise’ and closing out with the title track ‘Up In The Air Forever’ with a vocal performance that punctuates the album’s place as one of the stand-out releases for Australian music in 2022.

If you were one of the crowd to become one of the ‘Junkies’ (as Ocean Grove calls their fanbase) from Unify, then Up In The Air Forever will no doubt cement the band’s place as legends within Australia’s heavy music scene, and their upcoming tour Flip Phone In The Air’ (that’s a clever name to cover both releases) will be one to catch if you’ve yet to experience the band in a live setting.