Rainy Day Ollie – Killing Two Birds With One Car.
Rough around the edges, yet still showing promise.
Andrew Ryan // 11/20/06

In my eyes, the Ozaukee County punk scene died in 2002 with the breakup of Sand!. The handful of bands left simply weren't talented enough to hold my attention or drive me to come to shows.

Part of me wonders exactly why I was so short-sighted. Maybe my standards were too high from years of being spoiled by bands like I Belong, No Direction, and the like. Or, maybe I let my personal distaste for the people in the bands affect my perception of the bands themselves.

Either way, I was wrong. Apparently, the Ozaukee scene isn't dead…it's just waiting for a savior. Unfortunately, Rainy Day Ollie isn't the savior the scene needs…at least not yet, anyways.

At first listen, Rainy Day Ollie comes off as a second-rate Alkaline Trio or blink-182. On second listen…nothing improves. The band seems to take cues from every pop-punk band in the last 10 years, but can't seem to improve on the formula at all.

That's not to say the band is bad. In fact, the musicianship is fairly solid for the genre, and shows glimpses of what the band could become, with the right producer. (Local musical genius Justin Perkins, who has worked with Molitor, The Starrs, and The Obsoletes comes to mind.) Much of my problem with this album stems from the vocals, which are entirely uneven and shaky. While this may be another example of my standards being a bit high, they just sound too nasal-ly and whiny, and don't seem to fit with the instrumentation well. The mixing could use some work, as well…bringing out the drums and bass a little more might help the music flow better.

There are highlights to this album, though. The band successfully channels mid-life MxPx in the song "Not Tonight," a song that could easily fit into WLUM's local music rotation. (Why the band refuses to send in a copy is beyond me.) "Suck At Life" and "Believe" show off the tremendous talent of guitarist Ben Pitsch, who can shred with the best of them. And "Suffocate," the closing track of the album balances out hardcore and pop influences quite nicely.

Rainy Day Ollie simply needs to find a way to separate themselves form the crowd. Although they can pull off the pop-punk sound convincingly….so can everyone else. I look forward to the day where this group is able to rescue the local scene.

(**.5)

Two and a half out of five stars.