Tsunami of Sound


The passion that undisputedly makes an electrified riff all the sexier has been harder to come by in the last year of contemporary rock output, but thanks to Tsunami of Sound’s new single “Motor Oil,” the month of December won’t be completely devoid of this special element in the genre’s best work. Tsunami of Sound are a deep underground unit coming out of the woodwork alongside a lot of other talented indie acts in 2020, but in “Motor Oil,” they make it clear that their approach to songwriting is definitely not to be confused with anyone else in or outside of their scene right now. 


Without any lyrics to contextualize the theme of the tempo, tone or literal melodies in the song, this single is forced to center almost entirely on its textural presence - which, as you’ll learn, quickly becomes the sort of magnetizing centerpiece that doesn’t allow for many other features to enter the fold. The bass, the guitar and the percussion are each contributing a lot of force to the pot, and to some degree I think that the addition of verses probably would have made the entire performance feel just a little over the top and too reliant on excess to fit in with the needs of a millennial audience. 


Equally influenced by the virtuosities and conceptualism of Dick Dale as they are a stony sound that reminds a me a lot of Eddie Glass’ style of play in Nebula, Tsunami of Sound rock out as hard as any band can in 2020 in “Motor Oil,” and whether you’re a fan of instrumental music or not I think it’s a single/video combo you won’t regret taking a look at this December. ToS are in a very competitive era for indie musicians, but with their disinterest in commerciality and corporate fluff of any kind, they’ve already got the respect of this critic moving forward. 

Joshua Beach
Melbourne, AUS
12/2020

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