It’s only February, and 2017 is already off to a great start in the music world. Alt-pop newcomers, Ocean Park Standoff, just debuted their official music video for “Good News,” and it’s a breath of fresh air.
The band, which features veteran DJ, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Samantha Ronson, vocalist and songwriter, Ethan Thompson, and long-time producer Pete Nappi. In an interview from last year’s AMA’s, Thompson describes the band’s creation as “love at first session.” It all began with a friendship between Thompson and Nappi that grew into a creative partnership and eventually bloomed into this honest, talented group that is now Ocean Park Standoff.
Their sound is undeniably raw, catchy and it’s the powerful positivity alt-pop lacks right now. When you match these three up, they create a rare, distinctive sound that defies the odds of music and goes against mainstream pop.
The video, which was released nationwide only a week ago, features the L.A.-based trio coming together to send an optimistic message.
The song opens with vocal frontrunner, Thompson, walking around a dimly lit street sporting a white tee with a red fighting fist across his chest, leaving viewers with a dark imprint of the world we’re living in. The track sheds some much-needed light on how we are consumed by all of the bad news, that we forget to think of the incredible things that surround us.
The record is beautifully laced with lyrics that remind us we’re constantly on the run searching and fighting for what’s good in this world. The song makes us look for “something that gets you out of your seat” and makes you “believe in you what you can’t see.” This song is the break we all need from our consuming schedules, troubling thoughts and meaningless top-40 lyrics.
As the song draws to a close, we begin to see that light at the end of the tunnel. Ronson, Nappi and Thompson show us that fighting for the good in our lives gives us the opportunity to remember what is true, pure and makes us feel alive.
In an interview with the band’s label, Hollywood Records, Ronson admits that the message of the song, “is about the small victories in life.” She describes how her city-girl style is balanced perfectly with Thompson’s nature-man style to develop music that is not too poetic or too straight-forward.
To top it all off, Nappi’s uncanny ability to produce simple, yet powerful products serves as an inspiration to both Ronson and Thompson.
This band is truly unafraid to experiment with new types of lyrics, melodies, beats, instruments and vocals to produce the best songs. The overwhelming talent that each member of the group possesses is enough to leave you eyes wide and mouth open, but when combined, it becomes the perfect storm to get swept away in.
It is rare to find talent like each of these musicians holds, but it is even more rare to find talent like this that works so well together.
Ocean Park Standoff might have just stepped onto the music scene, but they’re hitting the ground running and making some big moves. In addition to “Good News,” the group ventures off to explore the dark and unknown places of electronic and pop music while incorporating the use of unconventional instruments with “Photos and Liquor."
After having just a small taste of their music, we already want more, and we know you do too. Lucky for us, the trio has some more good news: they will be debuting their first EP, which is set to debut on March 3.
We know we’re all in for a wild ride with this new project, and we cannot wait to see what they have in store for us all next.
