Those who went to the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio on December 5th were lucky enough to get their first taste of Ottawa’s debut CD, Random Lights, as the 5-piece band headlined with other local acts opening including Cities & Coasts, Midnight Passenger, Johnny La Rock and Furface. If you missed the show, there will be plenty of opportunities in the near future to see Ottawa live, so stay tuned to their webpage.
Random Lights opens up with the title track. Its toe-tapping upbeat tempo immediately throws you into a frenzy of good vibes as lead singer Dale DeLong’s mellifluous voice follows the rhythm up and down effortlessly. The refrain takes a swift pause to reflect with the lyrics “Random lights will always shine” before leading back into the flurry of guitar riffs from Will Hooper and Tim Czajka and drum beats that match DeLong’s pulsating vocals.
The introspective “Lie to Me”, is a song about growing up as the airy chords leads into the lyrics “I’m giving up on getting old.” Also notable is “Separator,” which takes on a garage rock sound with guttural vibrato that can be likened to The Black Keys or Arctic Monkeys.
Anthem-worthy “Tempo,’ a tune that lives up to its name, gives way to a solid, fast cadence from drummer Steve Crobar. “Dodge City” allows for a strong bass line from Chris Williams, while the song falls into a crescendo of sounds that leads you to think it has ended until DeLong’s sultry voice asks, “Why we gotta fight at all? / Take it as it comes,” to which the rest of the band picks back up to bring the song to a strong conclusion.
Every now and then a band is born with the creative potential to thrive and succeed in the music industry. In just 31 minutes, Ottawa’s Random Lights proves that this band is just getting started on their path to success. Ottawa is certainly a random light that shines ever so brightly among all the others.
Random Lights is out today! You can stream it on Spotify or purchase it from the band’s website or directly from iTunes.
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