Sometimes in life, several different things that I have a passion for intersect all in one place. In the case of Olivia the Band, those intersecting passions are as follows: Hawaii, my fiancee, my faith, and fun rock music. You see, Olivia the Band (with "the Band" added to their name because Olivia Newton John has apparently copyrighted everything simply named "Olivia") is a bouncy, breezy little pop-punk outfit from the North Shore of Oahu. They just so happened to move to the mainland, get signed to a major label, release a CD, and hold a release party for that new CD in their hometown of Haleiwa at exactly the right time for me to get my hands on a pre-release copy of the disc and make plans to see them while my fiancee and I were in Hawaii this month planning our upcoming wedding. Because of all this, it's tempting to like them just on principle. Because they're from a place that is so special to me, a part of me wants to welcome them into my music collection unconditionally and call them ohana. (Come on, I know y'all saw Lilo & Stitch. You know what that word means.) But I can't just do that for those reasons. That would be extremely un-critic-like of me.

Fortunately, this band has more going for them than just the state that they happen to be from. Despite how I can easily tire of four-on-the-floor pop/punk bands and think they all sound like Blink 182, I can easily develop a fondness for them when they vary their melodies and rhythms a bit and when their lyrics appear to be intelligent. Olivia passes the first test reasonably well, and they slide by on the second test as well, vacillating between honest and inspired songs of struggle and longing and friendship within the context of the Christian faith, and occasional uninspired bits of just-for-fun filler. On occasion, they fall prey to the disease of poor grammar (I'm not a total stickler for grammar in songwriting, but using "hear" instead of "here" or "there" instead of "their" in your liner notes, or leaving entire words out of sentences to make them fit, just smacks of laziness), and there are times when they veer a little too close to the predictable sound of Blink or Green Day. But then there are other times where they come off with the wit and wisdom of a younger Relient K (which works well, now that Relient K went and grew up). As a matter of fact, as far as records of this genre go, they're off to a more solid start than RK was after their first record. This is a consistently listenable debut album that I find myself coming back to quite a bit for a pick-me-up during the dull grey mainland winter.

One thing I probably need to make clear is that the band's place of origin doesn't really inform their sound all that much. Perhaps there might be some slight surf influences that I'm not knowledgeable enough to detect. But don't expect to be sipping a pina colada and doing the hula to this music. Expect to be bobbing your head rapidly or bouncing around in a mosh pit. There are a few scattered reference to island life, and a few musical moments that make it easy to imagine the waves crashing and gentle wind caressing the palm trees, but for the most part, this sound could have just as easily come from a mainland band. To tell you the truth, it surprises me that these guys are on Essential Records - they sound more like the quintessential Tooth & Nail band (but maybe a shade less harsh in the vocal department). I guess it's a trendy enough sound that it's not too weird to hear it coming from a major CCM label, but still, I thought T&N had cornered the market on this stuff. (They actually remind me ever so slightly of the obscure T&N band Hangnail at times.) Anyway, that's not a complaint, just an observation. For the most part, I've got plenty of aloha for this band, just the way they are.

Stars & Stripes
Count all His stripes, notice one thing
They're all screaming oceans of light
Leaving the night far behind
Hit the switch, fall asleep in the light...
Right away, Olivia gets props for having a song with this title that doesn't degenerate into patriotic schmaltz. More of a riff-driven, straight-ahead rocker, the band actually reminds me a bit of Anberlin on this first track, with the guitars chugging along in a vaguely 80's-inspired style. The song, while simple, uses "stars" and "stripes" as metaphors for creation and the beating of Christ before His death on the cross, respectively, reminding the listener that these things indicate God's presence along side them. The hook factor is off the charts here, both due to the guitar riffs and the wonderfully catchy "Oh-whoa-oh-whoa" that lead singer Reed Cromwell and both guitarists contribute to the chorus. (Of course, for all I know, maybe there's some obscure place in Hawaii called Owo'owo that I don't know about, but I'll assume it's meant to be nonsense.)

Butterflies
Cluttering, confusing, rendering, focusing
On all that You have, nonexistent...
This fast-paced song jumps in immediately, with Reed's words and notes flitting about just like the scattered thoughts and temptations he's comparing to butterflies. I like the band's honesty about spiritual struggles - it's a nice counterpoint to the surface-level thinking I'd expect to find on a lot of CCM records in this genre. The band seems caught in between more of a punk rhythm and an easygoing rock beat here, which does strange things to the momentum of this song, but the harmonies are rich on this one, which adds a lot of replay value even if it seems like the song is oddly placed on the album.

Along the Way
Fireflies on twilight roadsides
Late night rides in crater moonlight
Chester's pulling to the right side
Justin swears it's hailing outside...
This song starts off with the vocals pushed way to the back, which is enough to make you think something is wrong with your stereo speakers, but then a more typical punk beat kicks in and off we go! While the rhythm of this song is a heap of fun, it's probably the first moment on the album where the lyrics are a bit of a letdown. It's meant to be a song of thanks to God for keeping the band going through hard times, which is fine, but the lyrics are mostly your average auto-pilot CCM stuff: "When I'm feeling down, when I'm feeling sad, You always make me laugh". There is a really neat moment at the end where the band is going full throttle and different vocalists are overlaying various lyrics - it almost sounds like it's been dropped in from a different song. From there a cool lead guitar part fades out rather awkwardly, and you're left wondering where the rest of the song went.

Heaven
First time round, He turned a cheek
This time round, the sword unsheathed...
Olivia teeters on the edge of cliche by putting such an obvious CHR single (read: less punk, more pop, and in this case, more like a worship song) this early in the track listing, but they actually take on this sound with a fair amount of style and grace. Ignoring the gratuitous electronic bleeps and blurps (hey, as far as unnecessary studio effects go, it sure beats weepy strings), they've got a keen ear for pacing, allowing this song to open gently with strokes of electric guitar and then kick in with a robust rhythm and a solid lead guitar part from Justin Abilla. It's actually hard not to get caught in the fervent cries of "Jesus is here!" - this is one moment where the whole looking-forward-to-Heaven thing doesn't seem like a contrived attempt to jerk tears from its audience. The song balances beauty and power quite well, and once again multiple vocal parts are used sparingly but effectively. There are moments when drummer Christian Perreia is banging away and there's a light tinkling of piano, and it feels like there should be some other instrument in there to keep the momentum going, but it's still a lovely interlude and the song fades out after it in a tasteful manner.

Shut It Out
So with the mind, I myself serve the law of Him
But with the flesh of my bone, serve the law of sin
O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me
From this body of death pulling from His tree...
The band's first single, which starts off with a deliciously bouncy drum beat and some interesting scratchy guitar playing, is actually a smart look at denial that takes a self-deprecating approach not unlike some of Relient K's more thoughtful songs. Reed is the defiant voice in this song, telling someone who is trying to challenge him that he isn't all that bad and doesn't want to talk about it. He's justifying his sins just like we Christians are all tempted to do - hey, I'm not as bad as that other guy over there, so leave me alone! The rhythm has an almost intentional sloppiness that propels the song along on its jerky ride, and Reed slowly learns to accept his friend's rebuke as he sings, "Tell me it's out of love", which leads to a nice reversal of the chorus where all the "don't"s turn to "do"s and vice versa, and he's asking for help instead of pushing it away. This is the sort of intelligently written, but still light-hearted and fun, song that Christian radio would do well to start making room for in their play lists (come on guys, nobody's going to miss that awful Building 429 song that you play 20 times a day).

39
40 minus one, sin caused undone
Black eye and spit, innocence they hit...
It took me a while to figure out why this song was titled as it was - I thought at first that it was just a fun shout-out from Reed to his bandmates, who are all named in the first verse of the song. Then I realized that the significance of the number was the number of lashes that Jesus received (just one shy of the intended 40) - this seems to be a repeating theme that the band comes back to a few times. Reed is basically saying that those lashes were all for the things that he and his friends have done - it's a simple song of gratitude for that, and it flies by pretty darn quickly, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Saturday
Sun is sinking, air is cooling
Day is dying, night arriving
Whitewash ocean waves, no place I'd rather be...
This would be the band's "We love you, Hawaii!" song. I should know, they played it twice during their hometown concert (where they were apparently going to shoot a video for it as well - if it ever airs, look for an adult couple halfway toward the back of the gym amidst the sea of flailing teenagers, trying to avoid getting their toes stepped on). Musically, it's another straightforward rock song, though it has a nice little "tumbling" guitar riff and fast-paced lyrics - things that are usually guaranteed to put a smile on my face. For the most part the lyrics are more of the generic "beautiful day" stuff, but they do get in a few specific mentions of the North Shore and Matsumoto's (the most famous shave ice joint on the island).

Kill the Grey
Pull the rug, pull the rug, from which I stand
Stab myself, stab myself in the back again
Sabotage comes from inside out
Guilty I look, pick the culprit out...
I'm always grateful when punk-influenced bands decide to give the 4/4 thing a rest and play with different rhythms. The band takes on more of a rolling 6/8 beat here, leading off with a dark but cool bass line from Reed, who does an interesting vocal trade-off with geust vocalist Josh Kemble (from punk band Dogwood) during the verses. The vocals are more harsh here, which takes some getting used to (Reed has a fairly typical young punk sneer to his voice but it's come across a little more smoothly in the other songs thus far), but it fits with the overall frustration of the song. Reed describes the act of sabotaging himself by giving into temptation, and when this happens, the world around him seems to lose its joy and its color. The song rolls through its different sections, featuring two different parts that seem likely they could function as a chorus, and then ending with a separate section of overlapping vocals and a building drumbeat that stops cold at the end of the song. It's a great piece of work that shows off solid lyrics, great vocals, and capable musical chops from everyone in the band. Probably the best song on the album, from an artistic standpoint.

Look to the Stars
But you're never full, always on empty
Never enough stuff, always wanting something
Here on this earth to attain...
Continuing with the 6/8 rhythm, but in a more relaxed, fun fashion akin to one of Green Day's lighter numbers, the band offers up a disappointingly cliche song about storing treasures in Heaven that reverts back to an already used metaphor and basically throws out a lot of trite phrases. It doesn't really rock and it hasn't settled on quite the right tempo to be really catchy, so as a result, it kind of ends up being the song I always overlook. That's not to say that it's completely lacking in merit - the drums and guitar riffs are fun as usual - but I know the band can do better.

Novocain
2 hours later and the movie, it's over
Painted pictures of murder and slaughter
But no tear falls from my eyes
No pain deep down inside...
Diving in rather harshly after the previous song (which was probably intended as a breather in between two more intense songs), Reed shows us the harsher side of the voice here as he gripes about his own insensitivity, taking in violent movies and morbid news broadcasts and feeling pretty much nothing. Seems to be a common problem among a lot of Christians these days - show 'em all the bloody war movies (or even The Passion of the Christ) and they don't have a problem with the gratuitous, almost pornographic, fixation on blood and gore, but include just a hint of sexual content, and they flip out. (Sorry, that's my own little soapbox - back on topic now.) Reed feels bad that he does not have compassion for the people he sees suffering - he's allowed society to desensitize him. While the song doesn't offer much in terms of a move towards resolving that problem, it does feature a nice interlude where the guys are alternately singing and yelling "Emotion is dead!", which kind of makes for a funny (though likely unintentional) shout-out to The Juliana Theory. This song won't be for everyone due to the somewhat grating vocals, but as with "Kill the Grey", they do fit the overall tone.

Kid Innocence
Spending on me, myself and I
Can't help but feel I've wasted time
No time for others, just myself
Wonder how many coins are left...
Quiet strains of guitar and Reed's voice, softly singing the first few lines, start off this song, which appears to be a ballad until a chunkier beat kicks in and Reed is back in his more nasal, grouchy vocal mode. This is probably the song where I like his vocals the least, to be honest, but again, it's appropriate when considering the lament of the song. This is a song about time wasted on selfish pursuits, and it makes the analogy of his time being like coins that have been foolishly spent. He realizes that his life will ultimately end in death, as everyone's will, so why spend all this time amassing worldly treasures? A simple thing to realize, but it's tough to actually change that habit, and this is what the song is about. The band pulls off an effective shift from quiet to loud over the course of the song, with semi-hardcore screams echoing Reed's final lines before the song ends in a solemn coda of drums and piano.

Missing
The growing grass, the blowing wind, the shooting stars, you see
If you look close enough you'll notice that they're all written by Me...
Oh wait, the album is ending - time for an acoustic song! While such a thing is beyond cliche on mainstream rock albums at this point, Olivia at least handles the cliche with care, strumming along in a breezy manner that offers a sense of peace after the relative intensity of the back half of the album. The song comes from the point of view of God, and it echoes sentiments from "Stars & Stripes", telling the listener to look around and see God's signature in nature and realize what they're missing out on. While the rhymes can be somewhat grade-school-ish ("You're missing the fun, missing the run"), it's still a decent way to close the album, and I'd be interested to hear what Olivia could do with an acoustic guitar in some of their faster-paced songs in the future (or even something that hints at their Hawaiian heritage, like a ukelele). The song fades out with the soothing sounds of the ocean and birds chirping - a tiny little glimpse of paradise that admittedly wouldn't have fit well in the middle of the album, so maybe it did make sense to end this way.

So yeah, these guys are off to a good start. I hope that Olivia's career blossoms on the mainland and gives them a chance to mature in their songwriting and experiment more with their song forms without losing their straight-ahead punchiness and melody. I think they've got potential if they maintain their grassroots spirit and don't let the Nashville bigwigs push them into doing too many rehashes of songs like "Heaven" (those things are best when used sparingly). After all, if they lose that special touch of aloha, I'm not going to have any well-crafted music to remind me of the 50th state until Sufjan Stevens gets around to visiting!

ALBUM WORTH:
Stars & Stripes $1.50
Butterflies $1
Along the Way $.50
Heaven $1.50
Shut It Out $1.50
39 $1
Saturday $1
Kill the Grey $1.50
Look to the Stars $.50
Novocain $1
Kid Innocence $1
Missing $1
TOTAL: $13

Band Members:
Reed Cromwell: Lead vocals, bass
Justin Abilla: Lead guitar, vocals
Gabe Watts: Guitar, vocals
Christian Perreia: Drums

Website: http://www.oliviatheband.com

Great Music to Play While: Watching the ocean slowly appear below the pineapple fields as you take a leisurely drive to the North Shore.

Recommended: Yes