Olivia Tremor Control
Black Foliage
Flydaddy

Holy god, what a mess of an album. Olivia Tremor Control are very good at what they do. Unfortunately, they are still not sure exactly what that is. Black Foliage is what happens when a hip, truly alternative band discovers it can really write great pop songs. But rather than risk the tag of "sellout" from the unwashed masses that make up its fan base, they pepper the album with bizarre soundscapes, odd sound effects, and spaced out jazz.

So what we have are great songs like the lovely Brian Wilson tribute "Hideway," the Beatlesque "A New Day," and the Syd Barrett homage of "Paranormal Echoes." This is a band that wears its influences on its sleeve like no other. And that is fine - a lot of bands steal from their forefathers. That is rock and roll.

Unfortunately, O.T.C. had to go several steps further by burying those nuggets of great song writing in a sea of psychedelic oddities. After several listens, I managed to tune out the fragments and grab onto the actual songs and have come to love this mess called Black Foliage. So, you as a consumer will need to decide how much patience you have. If you can live with thirty-five minutes of druggy experiments for thirty-five minutes of great gauzy pop, then this is the band for you.

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