ALBUM REVIEW: Oh No – Same Side

Kevin Geyer may be more well known for some of his musical projects like THE STORY SO FAR but the sophomore album Oh No from his solo project SAME SIDE just goes to show that he doesn’t really need anyyone’s help to create truly great music. It’s fair to say the pandemic brought about a lot of new music and whilst a lot wasn’t great this is not the case with SAME SIDE. Work started in mixing and recording most of the songs during the pandemic and now Geyer is ready to release his follow-up to 2021’s In Place. Oh No features jangly acoustic guitar lines and a more relaxed and laidback feel compared to the indie meets pop-punk sound Geyer is perhaps more well known for.

At just one-minute long, Before works as an intro to the album. Featuring a keyboard and vocals, it’s pretty gentle and just a standard intro. The vocals are altered slightly to give it more of a dreamy effect which is cool. Now kicks off immediately after with a laid-back chord progression which gets under the skin and is easy to jam out to. The song stays here with hints of heaver electric guitars until just after the halfway point where it explodes in glorious distorted guitars and heavy drum lines that are just perfect. It doesn’t really change the song however as it reverts back to the chilled-out feel but with more electric guitar lines.

Cruise was released as a single and it is mainly built up of an acoustic guitar and vocals. It’s got a finger-picking style to it and it sounds great in a stripped-back, bare-bones style. There’s a little effect on the vocals that makes them soar a little more here and there. The drums come in at the halfway point and just help to drive the song rather than be all big and show off.

On & On & On is again built up on an acoustic guitar and slowly grows into a larger beast with the drums and electric guitars coming in over the chord progressions laid down by the acoustic. The guitar riff is simple and it doesn’t take over too much or come in too hard. The lyrics are personal and seem a little reflective which is good as it feels like this song has more of a personal touch to it. It’s clear that Geyer has a great understanding of how to blend acoustic sounds with electric as at this point in the album it’s only paid off so far and it seems this will be the case throughout.

Killing Time has more of a chugging feel to it with its simplistic drumbeat and finger-style guitar part. It’s more of a simple song and doesn’t go too heavy although it does employ a full band. It’s almost as if it could but really doesn’t need to. There is a little more freedom between verses and chorus for what seems like improvisation which is a great little addition. The final track Part Of It closes off the album and it does that with an acoustic guitar intro and gentle vocals over the top creating that relaxed feel the record seems to have been going for. It’s reflective and self-critical but not in a depressing way. The track doesn’t go beyond this which is good as it doesn’t feel overproduced and more sort of raw or natural.

This album shows a different side to Geyer. With SAME SIDE he’s stepped away from the pop-punk vibes and stepped into a more acoustic chilled-out scene where he can really just write the songs he wants and work as a solo artist. The songs are reflective of himself and the things he feels and when they’re all set to his laid-back guitar playing it makes for a really great album.

Rating: 8/10

Oh No is set for release on February 2nd via Pure Noise Records.

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