Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Experience counts, yes you can create a masterpiece without having lived, loved and seized the day by the appropriate metaphor, but the one thing such as classic will always arguably be short of one important factor, the familiarity of existence and having shook hands with demons and angels alike.
Ocean Hills’ Santa Monica is a case in point of how experience can bring out the best in art, offering the listener a snapshot of your life but infusing a belief of fluency to which they were not originally part of; it is the immersive nature of Zoli Teglas and the musicians around him that make this album not only sing a song of awareness, but of know-how, of knowledge and wisdom.
Zoli Teglas insists he writes songs for the working class, the common man, it could be argued that there is a deeper symbolism at work within this particular album though the idea of blue collar skill is proud to endorse, and in tracks such as the opening song of the album, A Separate Peace, or in the standout track of Budapest My Love, the glorious Death of Liberty, Like A Lady, Angels Wings and the fulfilling Christina, Zoli Teglas, Peter Lukacs, Daniel Szebenyi and Reinder Oldenburger bring this debut album roaringly and satisfyingly into view.
Ocean Hills offer no apologies, and why should they, to whom they have written this album for, and whilst all can listen, all can take part in the rejoice of such an intriguing and fully developed sound, it is the passion of those who use their hands, those who create sound without even being aware of it, that the album will resonate and inspire with reason and passion.
Santa Monica is wisdom drawn from belief, it is energetic, vigorous, strong and challenging, not once does it wander off its determined course, never does it show anything but faultless nerve and style; and through it all that deep empathy and identification of someone fighting alongside you is overwhelmingly pure and musically considerate. Indomitable and urgent, Ocean Hills have drawn on experience and offered a glimpse at the infinite.
Ocean Hills’ Santa Monica is released via AFM Records.
Ian D. Hall