Second Hand Planet

First of all Jason Kerrison, good stuff on those Music Month ads, now on a more serious note, Opshops’ second album Second Hand Planet isn’t half bad.

After a debut album fronting radio friendly hits like ‘No Ordinary Thing’ and ‘Levitate’, a chart topping second album seems out of reach for most of the mediocre bands New Zealand has been producing lately. Opshop however are in the throws of making those out of reach goals a possibility with their first single ‘Maybe’. In a somewhat predictable fashion, Opshop have produced another radio friendly single, but it all seems rather safe, music video included.

Don’t get me wrong, Opshop are still a solid, hardworking band that produce nice songs, but if they put as much effort into producing innovative songs as they do into trying to categorise New Zealand music, maybe they might produce something we want to hear.

My favourite track on the album would have to be ‘One Thing Worth Preserving’. It is the best Opshop song I have heard to date. They have incorporated a number of different stylistic effects on the guitars and vocals which produces a memorable final quarter. It is distinct Opshop, but we now see Opshop finally starting to venture away from the nest and try something that one could say is slightly adventurous.

Second Hand Planet is a really nice album though. Jason Kerrisons voice seems to have matured over the last three years into one which is more able to convey his emotional depth, which helps to produce thought provoking songs like ‘Smoke and Mirrors’. It is the sort of album you can fall asleep to, and even when they pick up the pace on ‘Noah’ and ‘One Thing Worth Preserving’ the vocals and guitar riffs manage to maintain a sense of composed and arranged soft rock.

If you liked Opshops’ debut ‘You Are Here’ and are keen to hear more of Opshop moving in a similar direction, pick up a copy of this album. Opshop fans will not be disappointed.

Craig Johnson