Oliver Tree — Ugly is Beautiful (7/17/20)
This may very well go down as my favourite album of 2020.
Oliver Tree is a name I was not familiar with at the start of the year. Though, when I saw him in his retro pink and blue ski jacket in the thumbnail for his Anthony Fantano interview in July, I immediately recognized him.
The 27-year-old from Santa Cruz has become somewhat of a meme with his bowl-cut hair and laughable fashion sense. As a guy who had never heard of him, I felt compelled to check out his music after barely a minute of hearing him speak.
He plays a character in his interviews that is very cynical and jaded and doesn’t shy away from confrontation. His bitter personality is hilarious and I just had to see what kind of music was behind such a character.
And would you look at that, it’s right up my alley. I think a general consensus is that the music is a bit tamer than his personality. It’s a valid point. While the persona he puts forward is so out there and ridiculous, the music is definitely not as offbeat. You’ll actually find plenty of Twenty One Pilots comparisons on this.
Despite that though, this is still an amazingly fresh take on the alternative pop genre and I’d say its better than the last two albums from Twenty One Pilots.
Sadly, it might just be the first and last album we get from Oliver Tree. He hasn’t hidden the fact that he’s not happy with how the rollout of the album went. He signed to Atlantic Records in 2017 and, according to him, he already had the whole album recorded.
He wanted to release the album but the label told him he needed to gain more of a following first, which led him to release the album in chunks over the past few years. It makes me glad in a way that I just discovered him upon the album’s release and was able to take it all in at once.
Opener “Me, Myself & I” has me absolutely hooked. His distorted vocals ride a driven beat split with half-time breakdowns throughout the song and it’s so addictive.
I think a big reason this album seems less out-there than his personality is because of the lyrics. While you can never take him too seriously in interviews, he doesn’t seem to be trying to pull off any jokes with his songwriting. “Me, Myself & I” is his way of saying that he’d rather say something stupid than keep his mouth shut.
“1993” is a reflection on growing up and picking yourself back up. It’s got a thick synth bed to it and features an artist Tree calls Little Ricky ZR3. It’s been speculated that this auto-tuned voice is another persona of Oliver Tree.
“Cash Machine” was released as a single late 2019. It’s a bash against materialism, Tree singing, “When is it enough?/How bad do you need that stuff?/What’s it all for?/Why’s it seem like you still want more?”
Acoustic guitar drives the verse with this almost Nirvana-like rock appeal. The drums pick the song up and then cut away for a slow-rise that again drops out for a crunchy synth breakdown. It is a fabulously rewarding listen.
Tree apparently wrote “Let Me Down” as an apology to his fans the day after he was forced to postpone the album release date due to COVID-19. So, that entails that not all of these songs were ready to go in 2017, as he’s mentioned before.
Whatever the case, it’s another absolutely smashing hit. There’s a great electric guitar to it that puts it right in the category of some of my favourite pop-rock. The bass is full and the drums keep up a snappy beat. And the “Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah” refrain is just delicious. Check out the Blink-182 version to see how fit this music is for the pop-rock genre.
“Miracle Man” was one of the earlier singles, released in June of 2019. It’s a quick two minutes that builds on another steady beat and splits between acoustic-driven and more rock-driven guitar for the hooks. Tree’s delivery over tightly plucked strings in the verse and bridge brings up similarities to the New York band Bear Hands.
“Bury Me Alive” gives you a good look at Tree’s rapping skills with a few verses that have him unleashing some of the most personality you’ll find on the album. The song was written around a bad acid trip Tree experienced at Burning Man and it looks at what you put at risk to support a drug addiction.
“Alien Boy” was the first song released from this album back in February of 2018. It’s since gone on to receive over 145 million streams on Spotify, massively outdoing any other song on the album. I gotta say though, it is far from my favourite.
The catchy tune plays it easy with a rather mellow beat. It’s about accepting what makes you unique and embracing those qualities. It’s crazy to me how it’s done so well. I find it be one of the more mundane songs of the album.
The album’s second half starts with one of my least favourites in “Joke’s On You!” I like the dark atmosphere to it. It’s got a deep, resonating bass beat and Oliver sings about toxic judgement against himself and others. Overall though, a little too lacklustre amongst the rest of the album.
It makes the following “Again & Again” jump out more when it picks up the pace with another one of these punchy drum beats that I’m an absolute sucker for. It’s one of the most alt-rock driven songs with a strong guitar rhythm and a wildly entertaining hook. It’s basically about learning from your mistakes and not being afraid to make them.
“Waste My Time” is a bouncy track that again, really shows Tree’s penchant for alternative rock. There’s a full band sound and I could easily see this playing next to bands like AWOLNATION and Grouplove. The song’s final minute pushes into new territory for the album with quite the epic outro that includes a bit of a string section.
Now, I know “Alien Boy” was the first taste many got of this album and it just happens to be the most-streamed song. Coincidentally for myself, “Jerk” was my first taste and nothing else from the album has been able to top it.
All it took was the 15-second Instagram snippet for me to fall in love with this song. The chorus just pounds in with so much intensity and it was immediately one of the most exciting moments in music I’d heard this year. He made it with Marshmello which maybe explains the 808 beats during the massive hook.
“Hurt” was the second single released from the album back in December of 2018 and is also the second most-streamed. It was the first song Tree wrote following a bad scooter accident he had in a semipro freestyle contest.
While “Jerk” is amazingly powerful and goes down as my favourite, I find “Hurt” to be an overall more well-rounded song. You get some of the best elements Tree has to offer in his music, from a swaying rap-groove verse to an edgy rock build of a pre-chorus, into a uniquely infectious sing-a-long hook.
“Introspective” is about as alternative as things get. Melodic guitar sets a light mood to the track as Tree sings about getting lost in your own head. It’s a super easy-going track that I suppose works as a little breather amongst all the high-energy surrounding songs. There’s no shock factor, nothing that really wows the senses, but it’s pleasant enough.
And finally, we reach the end with “I’m Gone.” This song is phenomenal. It’s been the biggest grower for me, getting better with every listen. Tree has made it clear that he has no intentions of creating more music anytime soon after all the trouble he went through bringing these songs to light. With that in mind, “I’m Gone” sounds like his send-off anthem.
It holds some of the slowest verses as Tree gingerly sings about problems he can’t seem to rid himself of. But this is contrasted with the most all-out rock of the album as the song crashes in the chorus with Tree announcing his departure. It’s wonderfully powerful and it makes for one hell of a finale to this crazy album.
That’s why I’m gone
Forever long
I’m gone
They will always find you
I hope this isn’t the last we’ll hear from you, Oliver.
