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OpShop - Second Hand Planet

16 Jun 2007 // A review by johnsoncraigsbc
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
Second Hand Planet
View Track Listing
 

About OpShop

Over the past seven years, Auckland based four-piece OpShop has become one of New Zealand’s best-loved bands, crafting a constant stream of massive hits and three albums, You Are Here, Second Hand Planet and Until The End Of Time.

It seems an age now since OpShop found mainstream fame with singles such as No Ordinary Thing, Secrets, Levitate and Saturated, all popular singles from the You Are Here Album, released in 2004.

However, those songs certainly hit the airwaves and lodged themselves firmly in New Zealand’s musical lexicon, providing the critical and commercial acclaim required to keep the band on target for a lengthy career at the top of the New Zealand charts.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for OpShop

Releases

Until The End Of Time
Year: 2010
Type: Album
Second Hand Planet
Year: 2007
Type: Album
You Are Here (Bonus Edition)
Year: 2005
Type: Album
You Are Here
Year: 2004
Type: Album

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NZ Top 10 Singles

  • WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS (WAIT FOR YOUR LOVE)
    Ariana Grande
  • BEAUTIFUL THINGS
    Benson Boone
  • END OF BEGINNING
    Djo
  • LOSE CONTROL
    Teddy Swims
  • TEXAS HOLD 'EM
    Beyonce
  • STICK SEASON
    Noah Kahan
  • PRAISE JAH IN THE MOONLIGHT
    YG Marley
  • CARNIVAL
    Kanye West And Ty Dolla $ign
  • SATURN
    SZA
  • LOVIN ON ME
    Jack Harlow
View the Full NZ Top 40...
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