Music
Press
...Oliver does write compelling and innovative songs, though if they quote that for their press kit they'll sound like douches. Tonight's show marks the release of their new EP, "Coming Back In Waves II: Bury Memories." Hooray! - By: KB
Let's face it, Portland isn't really a pop-rock town. It's hard for a band like Oliver...to find a fanbase dedicated enough to keep coming out to shows and buying albums. It helps that it is the most unpretentious band in Portland, and that it puts a lot more effort on refining its sound than worrying about its image. The new EP, "Coming Back In Waves I: Time Demands Pain" stakes the band's claim as a legitimate pop powerhouse. - By: CJ
...I'm pulling for Oliver, [one] of the more likely bands to blow up all modern rock radio style. Also in the plus column for Oliver is their singer, who happens to look a bit like a young Paul Simon, and their bassist, who looks like a young Nordic God. Perhaps they should change their name to Simon and Thor? - By: KB
Playing viscous rock that builds momentum like a no-brakes Mack truck, Oliver bears down with a hearty stew of thumping bass, ruckus guitars and a tight beat that pushes into you. - By: ML
Oliver has a nice variety in singing...and they are nailing what they are doing! Check out a show and decide for yourself, you can pay the cover confidently knowing something thought out, practiced and original is in store for you. - By: MS
Despite one of their members wearing a pair of old running shoes, Oliver has managed to escape the dreaded emo label by using more than one word for their song titles.
So if you want to be rocked, and I mean genuinely rocked, not light beer rocked; then check out the brilliant guitar playing and soulful harmonies of the Long Island Iced Tea-fueled monster that rises from the Willamette once a month to rock. Local fishermen's legends refer to it as Oliver. - By: Jeremy Hadley
Discography
Coming Back in Waves II: Bury Memories
6-track EP independently released 4.10.05
Coming Back in Waves I: Time Demands Pain
6-track EP independently released 1.25.05
Emo Diaries Ch.10: The Hope I Hide Inside
Compilation released by Deep Elm Records 4.27.04
Oliver song "Straightest Jacket" track #1.
Quiet Life
12-track album independently released 5.7.02
Oliver
self-titled 5-track EP independently released in early 2001
Photos
Bio
When Oliver was formed in the summer of 2000 the band members simply wanted to write good songs and improve upon their collective experiences in other bands. The goal was to form a melody-driven rock band with a big guitar sound and great vocals. The chemistry and the drive were there so the new band hit the ground running, managing to play a bunch of shows, independently release a self-titled five-song EP, and complete a three-week West Coast tour all within their first year together.
By the beginning of 2002 the band had heard a number of times that their EP did not live up to their live shows. So they headed for the studio again to record their first full-length album, "Quiet Life," another fully independent release which hit local music stores in May, 2002. Several tracks on "Quiet Life" found their way into rotation on both college and alternative radio stations all over the country.
The band's next project, "Coming Back In Waves", was a set of two EPs, "Time Demands Pain" and "Bury Memories." These EPs were released respectively in January and April, 2005. Two singles from the EPs, "Around The Sun" and "Half Inch Hayden," garnered more radio success for Oliver, most notably receiving spins on 94/7 FM in Portland, OR.
Currently Oliver is hard at work recording another full-length album, and as always they will continue to rock Portland and beyond, honing the live show that got them started in the first place. They have already been lucky enough to share the stage with bands like Superdrag, They Might Be Giants, Death Cab For Cutie, The Rentals, The Weakerthans, Ozma, and The Jealous Sound, and are looking forward to getting back out on the road soon.
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