| CD REVIEW: Delusions of Adequacy The eponymous debut album from The Oktober People owes quite a debt to The Verve’s A Storm in Heaven, if you ask me. The guitar chords – echoing and reverbed and spacey – imbue the sound with the same kind of grand moments you heard from Nick McCabe back then. The big-sound passages trade time with gentle, sad, and melodic moments, in a mode that has become pretty familiar over the past decade. As a fan of this kind of music, I knew I’d like The Oktober People within a couple of minutes of putting the CD into the player. It’s easy for a band to fall into a well-known formula when it’s putting its songs together. And The Oktober People certainly do like their whisper-to-a-scream dynamics (instrumental screams, though – never vocal screaming). It’s not surprising to hear comparisons to Mogwai, for just this reason. Like Mogwai’s CODY in another way, The Oktober People capture a sense of loneliness and alienation in their down moments. The vocals come often in whispers. The lyrics express regret, disappointment, and failure. “Well I’m shooting the shit with projector enthusiasts / Watching old films of the west,” a line from “Projector Enthusiasts,” sounds exactly like something from Modest Mouse. It’s not just the words themselves (hanging with the uncool, passing/wasting time), but the manner in which they’re delivered. Of course, they’re preceded by other self-critical lines that smack of Building Something Out of Nothing: “All the kids on the block / They tell me I’m dumb / Because I don’t know which way to walk / Maybe it’s just / The fact that I’m a simple / A broken-up red piece of chalk.” After a while, the song veers into another space-borne rave-up that characterizes much of this material. It’s the proverbial catharsis after the confession, the release that gets helps the pain go away. “Anger Before Pleasure,” an instrumental track whose title reflects this idea of cathartic release, begins slowly and sparsely. The mood is established by the long-held (e-bowed?) guitar notes in the background and the melancholy second guitar. After a while the drums come in, and by the midway point the band is pushing itself to be louder and more strident. It never breaks away completely, though, and in terms of intensity it never reaches that of “The Sky is Falling” or “The Jupiter Influence” or “The Roosevelt Incident,” where the band shows you its teeth. Some of these songs take a long time to unfold, and some of the tracks end up a little too similar to one another. “Cheap Hotel on the Side of the Road,” at 7:50, is actually two songs. After working itself up in a lather, it grows quiet, allowing the drums to kick in – doing a beat that has little or no connection to what’s come before in the song. The lyrics tell of someone lost in thought at a diner. In fact, it’s this song that contains some of the saddest lines on the CD: “I’m always thinking every day / Should I leave or maybe I should stay / But she don’t care either way / so I guess I’ll lay back / And think of things I never had / A normal life and a mom and dad who say / ‘Everything’s OK’.” It reads trite, but in the song it’s actually quite affecting. It hits you in the same way as “Hey Goodbye” from the Macha Loved Bedhead album. I hope The Oktober People can hold on longer than Bedhead did, and I hope we don’t need some other band to record their unrealized ideas. A first step might be for this album to land on the desk of an A&R person at a record label, so get the word out. - David Smith, 7/14/2005 |
| Melodies Itching to Explode by Matt Gomez Daily Lobo Listening to The Oktober People play a live set is like someone whispering in your ear, lulling you in with the promise of a great secret and then shocking you with a roar of melody. The four-piece band, comprised of Nate Santa Maria on guitar and vocals, Chris Moffatt on drums, Sean McCullough on guitar and Rhian Batson on bass, played a great set Saturday at the Lobo Theatre. The Oktober People have a sound reminiscent of post-rock bands such as Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky with dashes of shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain. This blending of melody, effects-driven guitars and subdued lyrics create a unique sound for one of Albuquerque's finest acts. Despite a turnout of around 50 people, The Oktober People played a powerful set. "I think it went pretty well," McCullough said. "It was pretty fun. I wish there would have been more people, but the (Lobo Theatre) is kind of a newer venue, and so not many people knew about it, I guess." The Lobo Theatre had nice acoustics and was a good change of pace for the band, McCullough said. "It was nice to play an all-ages place," he said. "We don't play too many all-ages shows, so that was a cool aspect of it. We're hoping to do that more, but there are not that many venues." Highlights of the performance included the band's second song, "Projector Enthusiast," which took the crowd across a landscape of sound. The song began with hushed lyrics matched with reverberating guitar plucks and journeyed through crashing cymbals, pounding guitar chords and screaming vocals. The only issues with the performance were the vocals, which were intermittently quieted below audible levels, and occasional off-tempo wanderings most likely caused by awkward reverbs. Both of these problems were mere hiccups in an otherwise fantastic performance. The conclusion to The Oktober People's set was a 10-minute epic. The soft-loud progressions eased the crowd into a rhythm just long enough to shock it with huge crescendos and then set it back down with a tapering sound of distortion and feedback. 4/12/05 |
| SXSW: Odd as it may sound, one of my best SxSW musical discoveries didn't come from seeing a band play. When doing some last-minute showcase browsing before heading to Austin last week, I came across The Oktober People, a four-piece from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Liking the samples I heard from the SxSW guide, I added them to my "maybe" list but didn't end up catching them as they were on the same time as Dirty On Purpose. However, when I went to catch Experimental Aircraft's day show on Friday, the label sponsoring the show was giving out a whack of free CDs, The Oktober People's self-titled album amongst them. Since the name seemed familiar, though I don't remember what I liked about them, I grabbed a copy and went on my way. Now let's be honest - usually when someone hands you a free CD, the odds of it actually impressing are pretty slim. So when I finally popped it into my CD player at the airport on Sunday, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself very impressed with what I was hearing. Musically, their serpentine, echoed guitar lines and loping bass melodies recall Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky, and while the loud-quiet dynamic is present, it's not the punchline. There's also some Verve-like atmospherics enevloping everything and many of the songs have vocals that keep them fairly grounded in more conventional song structures rather than multi-movement compositions (though some do approach epic-length). The quality of those vocals - somewhat frail and spidery, like Deserters Songs-era Mercury Rev - work perfectly with the music. There's nothing blazingly original in the ingredients that The Oktober People work with, but the end result is quite stunning nonetheless. If you couldn't tell, I'm quite taken with their work. - chromewaves.net |
| SXSW: ........Thankfully, there are far more intimate shows to be found, and some of the music sounds better than the Kaiser Chiefs. I walk up to Congress Avenue and into the aptly named Hideout, where a well-oiled Albuquerque outfit called the Oktober People is cranking out melodic rock tunes with a political bent and a big sound created through mastery of guitar pedals. The stage is in a small black-box room, not unlike the main stage at the MAC, where Kitchen Dog has wowed so many Dallas theatergoers. The place holds about 100 people, most of whom are able to sit. (My back thanks the Hideout.) Not only that, but the band is able to hold a running, exceedingly friendly conversation with the audience. "Where are you from?" asks a woman in the back. "Albuquerque," replies the singer/vocalist. A couple of songs later, another woman pipes up: "What are you called?" "The Oktober People. It's actually the name of my father's band in the '60s." Band and audience could be sitting across a table from each other. Even better, the music is great. This is the antithesis of the La Zona Rosa show. It is cozy. It is intimate. You can hear every note perfectly. The moral of this SXSW story: The big show isn't always the best show. Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News, 3/19/05 full text |
| SXSW: Back to the Hideout for the Oktober People. Their name suits them; the music has the rich color, haunting beauty and melancholy of a chilly autumn day. Vocals were intuitive and emotional. But I do think they could work on the lyrics a tiny bit. I mean, I hate Bush as much as the next intelligent, freedom-loving American citizen, but "Impeach" isn't exactly what you'd call subtle. I prefer sermons directed at me to be coated in a bit more metaphor, thank you very much. http://www.hybridmagazine.com/ |
| SXSW: Before Pilotdrift's set, I had the pleasure of listening to a band from Albuquerque, NM called The Oktober People. Wow, these guys are good. Melodic rock, like Godspeed You Black Emperor meets Catherine Wheel. Solid, dreamy landscape of well-effected guitars; lyrics that sway between dreams, dark interpersonal rifts, regrets for dead loved ones, and anger with current politics. They gave away a boxfull of CDs as well. - www.phaysis.com |
| SXSW: .......It's too bad that more of that crowd couldn't have been over at The Hideout for New Mexican export The Oktober People. The band's big, complex sound -- with its huge sheets of cascading, billowing guitar -- deserves some of what Kaiser Chiefs are getting. Maybe they should move to England......By Cary Darling, Dallas Star-Telegram, 3/19/05 full text |
| SXSW: Austin Chronicle - Thursday Sleepers 10pm, Hideout The billowy, two-guitar drift of this New Mexico weather machine is pure Explosions in the Sky until Sean McCullough whispers or emo-tes. Either way, the rainbow on the cover of the group's eponymous debut captures the natural wonders of TOP. – Raoul Hernandez |
| CD REVIEW: Intense, lonely and profound, The Oktober People is the musical embodiment of the winter equinox. Humming with melancholy hope, their self-titled debut sounds like Ride jamming with Smashing Pumpkins atop a North Pole glacier. With instrumental passages that wend dynamically for minutes at a time, the band comes across like Queens of The Stone Age without the rock excess or a straightforward Mars Volta. And when singer/guitarist Nate Santa Maria's urgent whisper slides into the mix, he drives embittered lyrics like "I never wanted to see you happy" without a trace of pretension. Yes, I mention lots of seminal acts here, because this band's music is polished and powerful enough to warrant such esteemed comparisons. Fresh and inspiring, The Oktober People's downbeat, atmospheric post-pop is the sort of stuff Zach Braff ought to be fish-slapped for not including in Garden State. Jadd, Hyperactive Music Magazine |
| CD REVIEW: My fetish for space rock is no secret. Neither is my love and respect for The Oktober People. But even despite my often hyperbolic praises of them, I can't find nearly enough gushy adjectives or sentimental turns of phrase to describe the depth and breadth of their long-overdue debut. Guitarists Nate Santa Maria and Sean McCullough share a magical intuition that manifests in brilliant, shimmering harmony and counterpoint figures. Rhian Baston (bass) and Chris Moffatt (drums) make cunning use of dynamic swells and shifts that underscore the already roiling passion and intensity inherent in the songwriting. Absolute fucking genius! Alibi, 11/11/04 |
| CD REVIEW: Oktober People Debuts Strong By Kevin Hopper For the Journal It's probably not journalistically proper for a local music columnist to pick favorites out of the current crop of local indie acts. But that becomes increasingly difficult when a debut record, such as that of local indie foursome The Oktober People, hits said columnist like a ton of bricks. The group, which has been working on the eponymous debut for quite some time now, has created a rollicking but moody whisper of a record that most closely appropriates early Modest Mouse recordings. Guided by a stoic but driving bass guitar that all other instruments seem to cling tight to, the record sways from quiet solitude to hailstorm intense in undetectable fluidity. Songs such as "Projector Enthusiast" and "The Jupiter Influence" begin so quietly that it's nearly impossible to fathom the frenetic chaos that will eventually ensue. But after just two or three tracks, it's the anticipation of just that that keeps the listener's ears at full attention. The album's standout track, "Cheap Hotel on the Side of the Road," harkens back to the minimalistic atmospherics of NYC's Space Needle. Toggling from soft to loud then slow to fast then calm to discord, the song somehow ends up veering off into a shuffling country and western melody marked by words like "the neon diner down the line/ I fell asleep and lost my sense of time." It's obvious The Oktober People is playing with our heads the whole time. There have been many local bands in the past 10 years that I have at one time or another called my favorites. This just happens to be another, but like all others before them, The Oktober People is making my head swim to the point of delirium. Because of the band and this record, I no longer want to categorize music like this as local or national. It's just fine music. Why outside elements in the music industry aren't spending more time in Albuquerque I will never know. The Oktober People's CD release party tonight at The Launchpad also features performances by local indie heavyweights The Mindy Set, Foma and simple. It would seem to be an artist and repertoire person's dream Albuquerque bill. Or maybe it's just mine. Show starts at 9 p.m., cover is a measly $5. Kevin Hopper, Albuquerque Journal, 11/5/04 |
| Emo, indie, experimental, ambient ... no single label accurately describes the musical alchemy created by Oktober People. Their live shows ebb and swell with miraculous unpredictability—one minute you're swooning in melodic bliss, the next you're blindsided by sheets of razor-sharp guitar and bombastic rhythmic acidity. Oktober People may well be the best-kept secret on the local music scene. Michael Henningson, alibi, 4/22/04 |
daily lobo article: Fall Crawl rocks downtownPublished: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 Media Credit: Julie Huffman by Sam Beresky Daily Lobo Bar hopping, beer, lots of rock and roll, a human sandwich with a pair of gorgeous Jewish sisters, a gimp and more beer would not even begin to describe a night at the Fall Crawl with local band Oktober People. The evening began at about 8 p.m. at the Atomic Cantina. Lead singer, Nate Santamaria hobbled into a booth and leaned his crutches against the table. He wishes he had a good excuse for his broken foot, like that he was in a cross-country crutching competition and fell on a scorpion while kicking ass. But instead he got in a fight with a trampoline. That's all - no glam, just clean fun.  Soon Chris Moffatt, the drummer and a UNM Sociology major, joined the group and everybody ordered a round - not the first - of beer. Bassist Rhian Batson and guitarist Sean McCullough were somewhere milling around the bar.It turns out that Santamaria's father formed a band called Oktober People in the late sixties and they once opened for the Allman Brothers Band in San Francisco. Eventually all of the band members died. The new line-up of Oktober People formed last June when Batson and Moffatt, who had been playing together in a variety of other bands, decided to form something new and they asked Santamaria to sing. More beer was ordered and the band played with glow sticks and crutches. The bassist from the band Unit 7 Drain stopped by to show off his cat suit while the industrial guitar of Trans 66 wafted from the stage. Another round was ordered and the meaning of life was discussed. Love, drugs, Rock and Roll and fixing the problems of the world were the most popular topics. Then the entourage hobbled to Burt's Tiki Lounge for more beer and music. Unit 7 Drain played an inspiring set and finished by smashing a guitar into about a thousand pieces. The crowd went crazy. Oktober People then took a short detour to look at porta-potties and to contemplate the Honey Pot Crutching Olympics. Back at the Atomic Cantina the band enjoyed the last of The Mindy Set and began to set up. They used to get nervous setting up for shows but after they started drinking, the nervousness disappeared, Santamaria said. Setting up the instruments seemed to be a small hassle, with one of the band members being injured and the sound man cussing at them. Finally set up, the show began. "Is it 11?" Nate said. "Word. Let's get drunk." The band launched into a very fast, almost hardcore song that surprised most of the crowd. The next song, "Impeachment," began with a very slow and beautiful lead-in by Batson on bass that rivaled the sonic quality of Radiohead or Pink Floyd. The band went on to play three more excellent songs, managing to rock hard and then bring it all down into slow, beautiful, melancholy moments. The band played with the emotions of the crowd, working them into frenzy and then carrying them back to earth. The combination of sonic jams, quirkiness and great musicianship made Oktober People one of the best sets of the evening. The band played five songs in 30 minutes to a packed house - then it was over. Band members frantically put their gear away and tried to get more beer. Moffatt went outside to make a call. The mood changed. Before the show they were getting drunk, making nipple guards with glow sticks and talking about great music and drunken-crutching. After the set, they just kind of deflated. Maybe it was the mood change of the band or the three shots of tequila and seven beers sinking in, but this reporter called it a night. Oktober People will be appearing this Friday at the Launchpad with Appleseed Cast, The Mercury Program and Chin Up Chin Up. |