by Benji Heywood (@benjiheywood)
Here’s something true yet counterintuitive: when you obsessively believe something, it’s hard to convince others to believe it. Convincing requires rhetoric, rationality, objectivity. In music, fanboy proclamations on an album’s merit exist outside of reason. So, before you read further, a disclosure: Ovlov’s new album Buds has me fanboy-ing out. It’s fucking great. But rather than rely on hyperbole, I want to convince you that Buds should be in your earbuds, on repeat, for the foreseeable future.
Attempt One: The Third Album Masterpiece Narrative
The third album masterpiece narrative goes something like this: on third album, Band X takes previously displayed but previously not featured Element Y and doubles-down. In Ovlov’s case, songwriter Steve Hartlett’s declaration that, yes, the band specifically meant to load their third album, Buds, full of earworms, is the bedrock on which this narrative can be built. Previous albums Tru and Am certainly had plenty of catchy moments, but the songs on Buds adhere to a pop structure intentionally utilized for this album. Combining pop sensibility with Ovlov’s trademark fuzz and wry wit is a stroke of genius. Buds is the best Ovlov album yet.
Attempt Two: The Family Affair Narrative
After an extended hiatus that began after Ovlov’s last show in support of Tru in 2019, Hartlett took stock, got sober, then asked for help from the people he could trust most. Buds is a family affair. Hartlett brothers Theo and Jon played drums and bass, respectively. Even their dad shreds a sax solo on album highlight “Cheer Up, Chihiro!” Recorded alongside longtime guitarist Morgan Luzzi, with the same producer who’s made all three Ovlov albums, Michael John Thomas III, Buds proves the family that rocks together, makes albums that slay together.
Attempt Three: The Breakthrough Album Narrative
If you like Ovlov, you probably really like them. After a slew of singles, Ovlov’s debut, Am, caught the ears of anyone wishing Weezer had been a punky, post-gaze band rather than hair metal enthusiasts with some questionable pen pals. Songs like “Really Bees” and “Where’s My Dini?” showed Hartlett’s proclivity to, in his words, “play an E chord through a Big Muff as loud as the amp will go,” but it wasn’t until second album, Tru, where the vocal melodies took sharper form. On Tru, Hartlett no longer sounds like he’s fighting the crash cymbals to be heard. Buoyed by vocalist Jordyn Blakely of Stove and Smile Machine, songs like “Baby Alligator” had a newfound sweetness that maintained the dinosaur scuzz for which Ovlov are known. More fans followed. Yet despite all the love, they remain a cult favorite. Buds takes all the elements that captured our attention and expands upon them, honing them into perfect pop songs without losing the bombast of earlier albums. Buds is easily Ovlov’s most accessible album to date and could be the band’s breakthrough moment.
There’s some truth in all three of the narratives. But we’re overcomplicating things. Buds is phenomenal because the songs are phenomenal, full stop. Dynamic without being jarring, catchy without being saccharine, and intricate without being overwrought, these eight lean-n-mean tunes are a joy to listen to. The album’s brevity is its only weakness, but it also plays to a strength. There’s no room for filler. Take opener “Baby Shea.” Blending sincerity and exaltation over a bed of distorted guitars and quick-fire drums, Ovlov get in and get out.
It should be noted that while Ovlov’s guitar tones are the envy of gear geeks everywhere, Theo Hartlett’s drumming on Buds is masterful. Whether navigating the complicated chord pattern of “Baby Shea” or the shuffle-and-smash of “Cheer Up, Chichiro!,” Theo’s drumming adds weight and resonance to the songs. This is perhaps nowhere more evident than the climax of album closer “Feel the Pain.” Backed by Alex Gehring of Ringo Deathstarr, Steve Hartlett’s vocals sound startling vulnerable. It’s a benchmark for the band, but its emotional gut-punch is punctuated by Theo’s staccato playing, which make the closing moments of Buds as breathless and thrilling as anything else in the band’s catalogue.
In an album of peaks – the sing-song melody of “Land-of-Steve-O,” the long-awaited album version of “Cheer Up, Chihiro!” (worth it, btw) – there is an Everest. “Eat More” begins as the quintessential Ovlov song, mid-tempo, playful, blissed-out, catchy. Hartlett’s floating melody is given added lift by Gehring, who appears on three of the album’s tracks, alongside appearances by Dig Nitty’s Erin McGrath and returning champion, Jordyn Blakely.
But something happens at the two-and-a-half-minute mark of “Eat More” that captivates me every time. A howling guitar bursts from the din and dovetails with Gehring’s accompanying voice until the song’s thunderous conclusion, at which point it becomes difficult to tell where the guitar ends and the voice begins. It’s like the difference between fanboy hyperbole and the narratives of music criticism. At the end of the day, you have to listen to the music and decide for yourself. Buds is all the convincing anyone needs.