Ocean Grove get nu on latest single, 'JUNKIE$'

Ocean Grove with another mixture of '90s-loving grunge & nu-metal: 'JUNKIE$.'

As a band, Ocean Grove's biggest charms is that they do what they want, say what they want, look how they want, and write what they want. They're creative and they don't give a fuck what anyone else out there thinks. Well, except for when they do. Because on their new single - the darker, bass-heavy, nu-metal grooves of 'JUNKIE$,' today releasing with a cliche, grainy, '90s VHS-styled film clip - the Melbourne act brings into focus who they are as artists but also the divided response to 'Ask For The Anthem.'

Recorded at the same time as its sibling single, 'JUNKIE$' is supposed to feel like a follow-up reaffirmation of what Ocean Grove is doing now as a band. It's a well-produced song burning with passion for older bands like Rage Against The Machine, Nirvana, and Limp Bizkit; all influences you can clearly hear throughout the new tune. But now that it's out into the world, the track does feel more like an FU response to the people who didn't like 'Ask For The Anthem' by giving those very same people a song that they would've enjoyed instead. It's kinda funny to me how its all actually turned out.

Lyrically, the song centers on Ocean Grove backing up how they're changing for themselves first (good on 'em, I say), also straight-up mentioning in this very song that "The last track was a test indeed." And the lyrics are also a little contradictory, too. In the first verse, singer Dale Tanner says "Give ‘em one song now they never want to play with us," - stating how some fans may end up being (and were) turned off by the newer direction in light of the heavier, older material - but earlier in the same verse, he acknowledges that people still have a lot of love for 2017's 'The Rhapsody Tapes' ("Rewind the tapes and see what you can savour"). Clearly, people still "play" with Ocean Grove; it just might not be some of their recent material, is all.

I love this group for their individuality, intrigue, and boldness, and whilst they're unapologetic, I do find it bizarre and unfair that the band refers to fans who didn't like one new song as not being "real OGs," even if said listeners followed them for years. What I'm saying here is: people aren't "haters" when your band releases a singular new song with a tweaked new sound after a dramatic line-up shift, and they're not about it. Of course, some listeners will have that blind loyalty no matter what a band does, but it ain't the end of the world if some don't like it either No one asked, but as for me, I'm somewhere in the middle.

Check out 'JUNKIE$' below: