LA-based alt-pop trio Ocean Park Standoff are introducing themselves today with the release of two tracks in anticipation of their Hollywood Records debut EP, due for release in early 2017.
Comprised of internationally renowned DJ and musician Samantha Ronson, singer/songwriter/vocalist and producer Ethan Thompson and producer/drummer Pete Nappi, Ocean Park Standoff came together in late 2014 when Ronson and Nappi paired up for a songwriting session. By early 2015 (with Thompson on board), the trio had begun writing together almost every day at Ronson’s place by the beach, working in a sun-soaked bedroom that slowly morphed into their home studio.
And though it’s built on feel-good anthems, there’s also an undercurrent of melancholy that give “Good News” and “Photos & Liquor” a powerful depth.
With “Good News,” for instance, Ocean Park Standoff deliver a soulful, piano-laced pop number that embodies the band’s mission of making music that “celebrates the small victories in life,” as Ronson explains. “It’s about recognizing that you have no control over how insane the world is, and trying to have fireworks for the little things that make you feel good.” While “Photos & Liquor” infuses hypnotic guitar tones into a hazy meditation on how on booze and memory can warp reality. In crafting the song’s pained lyrics (The flashbacks are mixed up with photos and liquor/Cloudin’ my mind with what was real and what’s fiction), the band mined inspiration from an old picture of Thompson and his ex. “In the photo they’re kissing on the beach and it looks so romantic, but really they were fighting and Ethan kissed her to shut her up,” says Ronson.
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