Dust off Classic CD Players for Old-School O.A.R

You may have last heard O.A.R. at a pool party in high school, or on your friend’s road trip mix tape, but rest assured that they are alive and jamming, although possibly with less fervor than before.

Upon first listen of the band’s newest album, All Sides, which has been out since July, it is apparent that they have not exactly raised the stakes. Their jam band ballad sound is still there, but it has matured and become slightly softer. Instead of wild tales of late nights, empty pockets, and empty gas tanks, O.A.R. has added more substantial music to the mix.

One such example is “War Song,” inspired by the group’s recent USO trips to Kuwait and Iraq. “It was apparent to us that no soldier was the same after their experience overseas,” said bass player Benji Gershman. “We wanted to write a song about that, about the fact that they can’t help that they’ll be a changed person, and they deserve our respect.”

Despite their experience with U.S. troops, Gershman said that the band has decided to refrain from endorsing a political candidate, a rare move in an election year when everyone from Heidi Montag to Daddy Yankee is endorsing candidates. However, Gershman stressed that “Everyone should exercise his or her right to vote and stand up for something.” Although he didn’t want to discuss his personal political views, he revealed that he’ll be voting for a certain CC alum.

With such a stable, unchanging sound, one may wonder if the members of O.A.R. have been guarding a secret time machine that has allowed them to maintain not only the musical style of their origins but also the apathy and carefree attitude that most often accompanies youth. They are still known for playing pranks on fellow bands (think vodka in water bottles, baby powder on drum sets) and are also able to maintain their neutrality on illegal downloading and other mainstream conflicts.

That’s not to say that this consistency fails the band’s fan base. O.A.R. has succeeded in adapting its business model and long-term plan for success to maintain its basic demographic as both the band members and their fans have grown older. Gershman is genuinely mystified as to why college students have remained such staunch fans over the years, but he does acknowledge that the band’s sound has grown since their days of performing at fraternity parties. He described this evolution as the result of the group’s efforts to “complicate our sound but also simplify things in other ways,” a process he explained as “something I can’t really quantify or qualify, it’s just there.”

While such remarks on the maturity and softening of O.A.R.’s traditionally fun-loving music may make fans worry that catching them on tour sounds more like a lullaby than a perfect tailgating occasion, Gershman said that it has actually been a very enjoyable experience to perform the new material. “As far as performing songs on this record, it’s a lot of fun. When you play songs like ‘That Was a Crazy Game of Poker,’ those are songs we’ve been playing for over 10 years. To have new material that no one’s really heard is exciting.”

If you missed O.A.R. on their summer tour, all is not lost. The band will continue to tour through the fall and promote their new album. And if you’re up for keeping O.A.R.’s youthful, collegiate tradition alive, you could always road trip to the Oct. 25 show in Atlantic City.