Olivia the Band - Where We Come from It Never Snows (CD)

All Music Guide

Recorded in 2006 but not released until early 2008 due to label difficulties (although five of the album's 14 tracks came out on a stopgap CD EP in 2007), Where We Come from It Never Snows finds Christian poppunk act Olivia the Band at an awkward stage in their career. Written and recorded during a period of personnel instability a session drummer plays on the album, and producer Mike Krompass plays much of the guitar and takes cowriting credit on nearly every song Where We Come from It Never Snows is a considerably glossier album than the band's selftitled debut. The tight, compressed, overproduced sound takes away almost all of the band's personality and leaves them sounding like just another cookiecutter poppunk band in the Sum 41 meets Yellowcard mode. Even the overtly Christian themes of the band's earlier songs are quashed a bit here in favor of the musical equivalent of what political bloggers call "dog whistle" statements by politicians on the campaign trail: language that th...ose in the know recognize as Christianthemed that would most likely fly over the head of the average punter. It's possible that this is a sincere attempt on the band's part not to be seen as overt proselytizers, but given the carefully managed, everythinginitsplace sound and image of the rest of the album, it's hard to get away from the idea that Olivia the Band is deliberately downplaying their evangelical side in an attempt to attract a wider (i.e., secular) audience. The irony is that this album has taken so long to be released that poppunk and indie rock trends in general have long since moved away from the postGreen Day mode of these adequate but undistinguished songs, and so Where We Come from It Never Snows just sounds a bit stale. - Stewart Mason, All Music Guide Read more Less