Reeve Oliver

Reeve Oliver - Reevenge (click on link, then right click on "click here to download the file now")

There is something about this song that has me playing it over and over. It's nostalgia - for 1999-2000esque emo/punk. That looks ridiculous as I write it and think it, but this song would fit perfectly on a Vagrant Records compilation between Hey Mercedes and Saves the Day from that era (or on a No Knife CD). Now it would be terribly out of place on a label that has lost its focus (or sharpened it, if you figure Rich Egan wanted to make loads of money as his plan to being with).

Full of major second chords and a neat beat flip in the first riff of the song, Sean O'Donnell comes in at the verse and lets his tenor voice guide you through the song. He doesn't plead with you, or shove anything down your throat, he just wants to let you what's going on. The vocal echoes that drop in and out (thank you Mark Trombino for mixing this) really add to the feeling of looking back on an important event and thinking again about what revenge is, which are reflected sarcatically in the lyrics - " We all knew you can't go wrong/It's in this song/Every note/Every word /And you".

This full length Reeve Oliver CD really surprised me, and as it stands, it will land in my top ten for the year. The rest of the CD doesn't necessarily sound like this song, but there are some melodies that are just sticking my head like nothing else has this year.