Tales of Transit City, the second LP by the German psych/prog outfit Okta Logue, is quite plain about the influences it draws from. From the classic rock of the Beatles and Led Zeppelin to the psychedelic prog of Pink Floyd, the album covers the veritable prog playbook in its nine-track running time, all the while maintaining a chilled-out mood captured in its warm, vinyl-friendly production quality. Yet instead of sounding like a student regurgitating material for a test, Okta Logue comes off as a group that knows how to respectfully pay homage to a time-tested sonic—and have a blast doing so.
What makes Tales of Transit City so listenable a record is its unabashed embrace of pop hooks, a thing evident in its fourth single, “Dream On”. Drawing from recent reference points like the Kooks and classic prog mainstays like Yes, the song is an easy choice to promote prog’s to-be sleeper pick of 2013.
The band tells us about “Dream On”: “Benno’s and Robert’s dad Tommi runs a shop for motocross bikes. For some time now we kept thinking about making something out of our relation to motocross. Since Tommi has been active in the motocross scene for a long time, and even Benno and Robet used to participate in motocross races when they were kids, we had a very good contact to the local motocross club and shot some scenes on their racing track. With Swen (with whom Benno won a 2k-race back in 2003) we found a helpful motocross intern who was generous to lend us his bike and double as our friend and protagonist Malwin for the racing scenes. To find the playgrounds through which our cowboy travels during the video were shot, we made tours to the “Odenwald”, a forest close to our hometown. While drinking lots of the local apple wine in old pubs, we regained our love for this beautiful piece of nature. We liked to play with the contrast of the loud and dirty motocross sport and the silent peaceful landscapes; to combine these two worlds in the daily routine of our cowboy. After all it was very interesting to get a little insight into the motocross scene and its habits.”
“Dream On” is directed and by Nicolai Hildebrandt and produced by Okta Logue & Frederic Merten.