Ocean Beach is a 5-piece guitar band from Auckland who play crunchy pop-folk and cinematic cruisers.

‍

Their name is an ode to the (now defunct) Freezing Works that the singer/songwriter Gary Dalhousie’s Tongan uncles worked at in the 1970’s. The band's anticipated debut album Long Road Home is out today on vinyl, on their own label Freezing Works records, and distributed by Southbound. The album will be available on digital platforms via BigPop next Friday May 23rd.

Long Road Home is the tale of Gaz’s journey from anxious Southland kid to conscious father, partner, and mentor. An opus of two halves. From Invercargill in the 70’s to modern day Grey Lynn. Spat out from a neurotic state highway of self-medication. Drugs, alcohol, and anxious delinquency fueled this unwarrantable heap from the bottom of the world, up State Highway 1, onto the Northwestern Motorway, to be ejected at the St Luke’s off-ramp.

Side A: Medication: The album opens with a sensational bucket bong instrumental ('Savage Buckets') before Gaz invites you into the car for the musical roadie to enlightenment ('On My Way').We visit Ōtepōti/Dunedin’s Crown Hotel – a favourite live music pub ('Tower of Babel'). We observe misogyny on the razz ('Boys' Club') before an interstellar incursion profoundly impacts the journey’s trajectory ('Omuamua').Side B: Meditation: A glistening celestial space waltz ('Omnism') draws us into an ethereal, cosmic portal.

We go to a summer party in leafy Grey Lynn. Struck by the awe of the cosmos, a love epiphany occurs and the clarity appears in his lover’s brown eyes ('Come Around'). The understanding that we are all connected is realised through a love song for meditation ('Be Together') which also serves as a reconciliation for Gaz’ Pasifika/Scottish NZ heritage.
Finally, we arrive home, through the instrumental cruiser and closer ('Long Road Home').

It‘s all here. A beautiful and enthralling musical journey. An aural, spiritual, inverted Goodbye Pork Pie, that starts in Waihōpai/Invercargill and arrives in Tāmaki Makāurau/Auckland. A story that begins in the cosmos and continues in the heart. A search for self, discovered and ultimately remembered through experiences.

Ocean Beach's debut album The Long Road Home is out today, Friday May 16th, on Freezing Works Records.The album is distributed on vinyl by Southbound Records, and digitally by Bigpop.  

It's already getting great reviews.

"With side one subtitled “Medication” and side two, “Meditation” its clear that Ocean Beach (named after the Ocean Beach Freezing Works in Bluff) have taken great thought and care (any probably expense) to put this package together. I should note that the vinyl comes with a very nice insert, with lyrics, credits, and illustrations to go with four of the songs. Its clear that these folks take their rock & roll seriously, and so should you." – Marty Duda, 13th Floor

‍

Check out all things Ocean Beach below:

Facebook

Bandcamp

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍