Review: "The Ocean" Album by Air Show Disaster
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Air Show Disaster’s Eric Sporer blends hard rock with progressive rock to create hallucinatory trips with his “The Ocean” album. Defiance rests at the very core of the entire experience. Volume is a given for they blast off with nary a care in the world. Here they utilize a cryptic form of storytelling for the lyrics here offer a poignancy. With a clear nod toward acid westerns, the songs seemingly sprawl out into the infinite. Interplay amongst the group is quite spirited. Buildups of the atmospheres result in whole universes that completely wrap themselves around the listener.
The slew of references abounds throughout the album. On the psychedelic western twang side, they bring up illusions of Meat Puppets at their prime. Much of the lyricism features a similar degree of sheer oddity, with the word choice further adding to the dreamy disposition of the entire work. Going more on the progressive rock side of things, they opt for the brutalism of Cheer Accident. Much like Cheer Accident, they embrace a hint of the theatrical adding to the overall sense of glee that they employ over the course of the entire journey.
Starting things up right is the powerful blast of the opener and title track “The Ocean”. Guitars and organ tones get gnarled up together for the rhythm almost seemingly long to be untangled. Punk-like energy reigns supreme on the wildness of “Fireball”. Everything about the song features a forward, wall-like sprawl of sound. A bluesy touch to the proceedings gives “The Dregs” a pensive, reflective stance one that perfectly dovetails with the sprawling experience of the piece itself. Ramshackle old-timey grooves settle down as “The Shortest Day” strips away the detritus for something highly intimate.
Nice guitar athletics and riffage dominate the angular “Liberator”. Full of such heart “Home” has a pining, yearning aspect to it for they once more slow things down to give it a careful meditative quality. Drums play an essential role with the rollicking “A Single Grain, One Million Years”. By far the highlight of the adventure comes with the finale “Converge”. With the amplifiers fully blown out there is a dazed, hazy quality to how it closes things out.
Everything about Air Show Disaster’s “The Ocean” is a pure booming delight, one that feels absolutely liberating to behold.