An Oasis of sound

The quintessential ’90s band Oasis molded their sound around Beatles-like psychedelia circa Magical Mystery Tour, complete with seemingly mind-altering distortions and similar sheets of ambient noise.

Of course the Beatles during their time did not have advanced technological gadgets at their disposal, so theirs was basically a daring experimentation. Oasis’ loops and dizzying effects, like their famed predecessors, are built on a solid melodic base which can be attributed to adept songwriting, another common denominator the younger band has with the Liverpool group.

They have a number of music videos which shows the band indulging in varying degrees of ribaldry, as can be expected of any pop group presenting themselves in that by now rather blasé medium.

Oasis is mainly the Gallagher brothers, one of whom has had a tempestuous relationship – or so the tabloids go – with the sexy Patsy Kensit, actress and part-time singer. Other band members have changed over the years, but the brothers are constant.

In one such unplugged MTV or other, one of the Gallaghers sings Don’t Look Back in Anger accompanied by a lone acoustic guitar, recalling images of Brando or is it Dean, in the old, old movies.

One of the more famous albums, if not the breakthrough CD, is What’s the Story, Morning Glory, which was said to have been spinning on the player before a poet’s son committed suicide a couple or so years ago. Not that the music had anything to do with it.

Our own exposure to the band has been limited to a CD purchased in Quiapo, home of many a mortal enemy of Bong Revilla Jr., Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (the shoulder of which may be grammatically plural), which starts off with the memorably titled Fuckin’ in the Bushes.

Fuckin’ is an almost purely instrumental cut that features a riveting lead guitar line toward the end, that showcases the band’s musical virtuosity.

Go Let it Out has a chorus that might be a counterpoint to the refrain of Hey Jude’s "so let it in and let it out," again emphasizing Oasis’ natural affinity with the Beatles.

Usual visions of the apocalypse inhabit a song like Where Did It All Go Wrong, with the vocals and ensemble approach seemingly a perfect hybrid of British pop infectiousness and postmodern malaise.

Sunday Morning Call, on the other hand, starts ominously slow, till it picks up and lets all go hang in typical lyric style.

The semi-funk of Put Yer Money Where Your Mouth Is could have been culled from the Beatles’ Revolver, then again maybe not; they have their own story to tell, their own music to play after all.

One may get a bit restless while listening to the last cut on the CD, Roll it Over, which same title was used by Derek and the Dominoes for a different song in their In Concert double album recorded live at Fillmore East in the early 70s. But this could only mean that Derek and the Dominoes are yet another giant on whose shoulder Oasis stands.

It may be symptomatic of the times that Oasis, considered one of the better bands of the 90s, should always be measured against the accomplishments of those that took the rock and pop forms to their limit. Since the Beatles, Derek and the Dominoes, et al., might popular music merely be getting repetitious if not redundant?

Yet the irony is that the music of Oasis, though being an outright tribute to past masters, is never an exercise in nostalgia. It is not even the slightest bit sentimental, and so their success can best be attributed to their hardy reinvention of a sound when everything in rock seemed fresh and new.

Their forthcoming visit to Manila augurs well for our own music scene, and would serve as a shot in the arm as well for moribund local musicians who think the country is always the last stop for fast fading acts.

To Oasis’ credit, they’ve never denied their references to those that came before, which makes them better able to face the future or their own bright size life, whatever walk on the wild side they choose.