Okay
By Sam Parvin
I was rather excited to get my hands on the latest from
Venice is Sinking, especially after a nearly three-year dry spell after their
second full-length album, AZAR. The Okay maxisingle, released in response to
AZAR, hit websites and stores in March. Okay’s
packaging is modest, and through a little research it is understandable why:
all five tracks are versions of previously recorded and/or released
pieces. But don’t worry ViS fans;
although Okay supports healthy digestion of the band’s second full-length, this
EP is simply the apéritif to stimulate your palette before the next
course.
“Okay”, the title track on both AZAR and this EP,
sounds uplifting and sun-shiney. I am
assured, though, that the lyrics are not as jubilant as the tone suggest. It is difficult to understand Daniel Lawson’s
angry verses in “Okay”, but an occasional “desperate”, and “difficult”, and
“incomplete” does slip away. Venice is
Sinking are self-proclaimed obsessed with the San Francisco based pop orchestra
Okay. And keeping with the theme of the
EP, ViS has included two covers of Okay songs, “Compass” and “Give Up”,
recorded at Bel-Air Studios by Jason NeSmith.
The band has taken the original versions of the songs and contorted them
into their own style, and the outcome is pleasing. Both “Ryan’s Song” and “Okay” are featured on
AZAR, but the versions on the EP were recorded with Athens engineer Ken
Henslee before tracking AZAR. The
songs were nearly finished but put on hold until May of this year, when Henslee
and NeSmith finished up. The band
thought Henslee had done such a great job, that they included the tracks on
this EP.
The Okay EP came about out of necessity – the need for the world to hear these tracks and take a second, third, or reformed listen to what Venice is Sinking
seeks to promote: good music. Stayed tuned for a third album already in the works.
I know I’ll be picking that one up!
Hey, thanks for the review! What you got was a limited edition handmade copy that we sent to press and we will sell at shows. Also, our three year dry spell was before AZAR, not after. AZAR was released in March. Thanks again!
Oh, and one more thing. Only the first song, “Okay, has been released before (on AZAR in March). The others are either covers or alternate versions, all previously unreleased.