Oceanator
Comet Ping Pong, November 6, 2022
The thread of "R.I.P." subject headers has gotten too depressing. Thought I would share some recent concert notes from musicians who are definitely not dead.
I saw
Oceanator at Comet Ping Pong on Sunday night, November 6, 2022, with
Queen of Jeans and
Flowerbomb opening. Oceanator is the vehicle of Elise Okusami, also a member of Vagabon, which makes her a noteworthy figure as a Black woman in the power pop/indie rock scene. I have been peripherally aware of Oceanator for a few years, and the new Oceanator record
Nothing’s Ever Fine is co-produced by DC-area Bartees Strange, an increasingly prolific presence as both a musician and producer (see the new Broke Royals record
Local Support, which is another show I recently saw).
Oceanator is basically a grungy, power pop band, exemplified by tracks like
"Bad Brain Daze", whose title is both an allusion to Bad Brains as well as a reference to the mental confusion and anxiety that can overwhelm our conscious minds under the deluge of social media and doomscrolling.
Oceanator’s set was quite a bit heavier than I expected, and skewed closer to heavy rock than the poppier material on their first album from 2020,
Things I Never Said. I honestly liked the studio versions of songs like “I Would Find You” more than the heavier live set. On the earlier record, Oceanator had a keyboardist which lends more of a New Wave sheen to Okusami’s cool vocals. But in concert, it was a heavier set up with Okusami on lead guitar and vocals, backed by bass and drums. I recognize that the new Bartees-produced record is just a bit darker and more metallic in tone, but it’s less to my liking. There is a dour, more desperate tone to songs like “Nightmare Machine,” which is like Tracy Chapman singing a Superchunk song. Although the early-'00s nostalgia and verve of "The Last Summer" (with its downtown Washington scene-setting) has the undeniable energy and hookiness of a Blink-182 or Green Day single.
Of the openers, I quite liked local band
Flowerbomb, led by an absolutely tiny woman named Rachel Kline. Flowerbomb describes itself as “bubblegrunge,” a fair description of their
punchy, crunching guitar-pop. Although in parts, they seem to be a bit more Rilo Kiley-inspired than Soundgarden or whatever. The second act, Philadelphia’s
Queen of Jeans, didn’t do much for me.
Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/2022 09:58AM by zwirnm.
