Release Date: 13 March 2020
Song Count: 12
Rating: 9.5/10
Description:
Released right at the start of quarantine lock-downs following the pandemic worldwide, Flip Phone Fantasy is the second album from the Melbourne-based band Ocean Grove, and has seen some level of attention, success and critical acclaim with its release, hitting over a million Spotify streams with most of the album's tracks. Do not let the bright and poppy album cover and the cheesy song titles fool you, however; it is all a veil for one of the most unexpectedly hard-hitting catalogues of songs that may ever grace your ears.
While one may at first expect something simply melodic, upbeat, happy-go-lucky and accessible to the mainstream with Flip Phone Fantasy's outward appearance, it fully shatters those expectations from the moment it begins, as what lurks underneath this façade is a series of loud and bold yet vibrant nu metal and hard rock songs full of character and differently channeled energy. Each and every track and detail no only helps carry the entire vibe of the album along smoothly, but also stands in its own right as a thoroughly thrilling and fulfilling experience that leaves the listener wanting more. Even any unconventional approaches, styles and turns the songs take, or any "flaws" the album possessed are not only rectified, but quite literally turned into positives on their own, acting as refreshers for the full-course meals that are the rest of the songs. There quite literally is not a single track that could even remotely be considered anything below the line of greatness, if not being phenomenal.
A lot of the songs furthermore either take inspiration from or resemble other great bands within the same genre (or adjacent ones) that are popular or that I know of and really enjoy the discography of, but far less in a derivative or knocking-off kind of direction, and far more in a way where it is clear that they are but an inspiration and, in a metaphorical sense, a "topping" to enhance the already practically perfected baseline set with a simple yet efficiently used set of instruments and sound effects.
With every song being at a consistent level of quality that is pretty much off the charts and no dips in quality to be found, it is naturally insanely difficult to pick out any favourites or obvious highlight moments. From the brilliant transition between "SUPERSTAR" and "NEO" and the well-earned pause in energy that "BABY COBRA" provides with its acoustic guitars and slow nature to the insanely catchy "GUYS FROM THE GORD", the final minute of the closing track "FREAKS" containing one ginormous instrumental solo to go out on, and every other song having at least one aspect that matches all of these magnificent moments in terms of level and quality, there is so much to enjoy and discover within this 37-minute package.
I suppose, though, that if I had a gun pointed to my head by someone and were forced to choose one track to pick out as the "best of the best", it would likely be "THOUSAND GOLDEN PEOPLE" - the energetic rapping, passionate vocals, powerful guitars and bass, drums in overdrive in the best kind of way, sound effects to elevate things to an unreal degree and an overall absolutely electric energy, there is simply far too much to enjoy about this track to not name-drop it somewhere here. It takes the listener back to some older and different times with the almost golden era Linkin Park-style of combining rap, nu metal and lovably pseudo-poetic lyrics together into one three and a half minute long song.
Flip Phone Fantasy is an album that manages to deliver on every front, navigating through every curveball that comes its way in a manner that is unpredictable yet ultimately extremely satisfying to listen to. I've honestly not had as much enjoyment from an album during this albumthon since Arthouse over a month ago. If you enjoy any form of hard rock, nu metal or any sort of adjacent genre, this album is most certainly a must-listen, which is not a superlative I throw out lightly, but one that, in my eyes (and ears that I listened to the album with), absolutely fits here.