Album Review: The Ocean Party ‘Restless’

The Ocean Party are crafting incredible sounds that are reaching well past our ears and into our damn inner souls. However, it’s been a bit of time since they’ve gifted us with some new tunes, so we were seriously getting “restless” for their upcoming sixth studio album! With Restless and Back Bar already having been the album’s main singles, we’ll take a look at the nine other tracks on the band’s latest long player.

Hunters is the album’s second track and gives a bit of an Ocean Alley and Sticky Fingers feel at the beginning but with less reggae vibes. The deep bass  and mix of falsetto vocals mix with sharp striking guitar strums instantly put me in a good mood, especially listening to it in the morning before a straight 6-hour day at uni.

“The album delivers a great contrast between light and dark themes while giving us plenty of opportunities to throw shapes to their chill upbeat vibes!”

Back Bar, which they released as a lovely teaser for us back in late June, takes on the same kind of theme as Guess Work from their 2015 album ‘Light Weight’. It’s an uplifting and cheerful tune full of chimey guitar strums, upbeat drumming, and sunny synthesiser melodies crafts.

Yet, similar to Guess Work, the background instrumentals contrasts against slightly odd lyrics, “Kick the bucket on the wall/ Watch the old man fall/ Now you get to let him crawl/ But keep the a mud off the floor”.

The relaxed and happy vibe doesn’t change with the tracks Decent Living and Pressure. Although the two tracks set a darker and more melancholic feel against the other tracks, each song features beautiful synth melodies mixed with brooding bass work which create gloomy but gripping tracks. The saxophone phrases in Decent Living is also a great touch and is seriously impressive, giving the track just that extra punch!

Teachers, Reach, and Locked Up are the slower paced compared to the rest of the tracklist, giving in to the emotional lyrics as they’re tasked to convey. These songs may feel a bit boring compared to the rest of album but the lyrics are so easily relatable try to give them a minute to work you over so you can lose yourself in them!

Overall, you’d think things couldn’t get any better with a band who’s released six studio albums in seven years. Yet, The Ocean Party somehow have taken their music to a new level with ‘Restless’. The album delivers a great contrast between light and dark themes while giving us plenty of opportunities to throw shapes to their chill upbeat vibes!

In support of ‘Restless’, The Ocean Party will be venturing out on a national tour starting in late September. Check out their tour dates below!

Album Rating: 4.5 Little Beers

The Ocean Party National Tour

WED 28 SEPT
Beach Road Hotel, Bondi
THUR 29 SEPT
The Phoenix, Canberra
FRI 30 SEPT
Petersham Bowls Club, Sydney
SAT 1 OCT
The Treehouse, Byron Bay
SUN 2 OCT
SeeSpace, Lismore
TUE 4 OCT
The Grand Hotel, Cairns
WED 5 OCT
The Rec Room, Townsville
FRI 7 OCT
Sol Bar, Maroochydore
SAT 8 OCT
Trainspotters, Brisbane
SUN 9 OCT
The Time Machine, Nambour
TUE 11 OCT
Bunker Records, Toowoomba
WED 12 OCT
The Federal Hotel, Bellingen
THUR 13th OCT
Franks Wild Years, Thirroul
FRI 14th OCT
Thyme To Taste, Yass
SAT 15 OCT
Tanswells Commercial Hotel, Beechworth
SUN 16 OCT
Tanswells Commercial Hotel, Beechworth
THUR 20 OCT
The Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine
FRI 21 OCT
The Metro, Adelaide
SAT 22 OCT
The Eastern, Ballarat
SUN 23 OCT
The Birdhouse, Wagga Wagga
SAT 29 OCT
The Bird, Perth
SUN 30 OCT
Mojos, Fremantle
FRI 4 NOV
The Grand Poo Bah, Hobart
SAT 12 NOV
The Tote, Melbourne

Get Tickets HERE