For the first time in this music review series, I only review four songs, as Off Road Minivan has only released a selection of four songs in their short career. Less could well be more in this case, as the band has a distinct indie-rock sound that attracted my attention. Off Road Minivan is one of the musical projects of Ryan ‘Tuck’ O’Leary, who is better known as the bassist/backing vocalist of the metalcore band, Fit For A King. This band is a new direction for O’Leary and company. They focus on life’s issues and highlight them with aplomb on their EP ‘Spiral gaze’. The band currently consists of Ryan Tuck O’Leary–Vocals/Bass; Melvin Brinson–Guitar; Dave Trimboli–Guitar/Keyboard; Miles Sweeny–Guitar/Keyboard and Evan Garcia Renart–Drums.
4. 17 Years
The initial distinct sound that draws you into the first track on the countdown is the rhythmic drum beat by Renart before O’Leary’s angelic voice comes to the forefront in the first verse. The melodic clean guitar rhythms add extra character and calibre to the song. The lyrics look at how lives shape over 17 years and how things change and stay the same in many respects. After a melodic instrumental passage, the song takes a harder tack in the outro with the distorted guitar of Brinson adding some much-needed ferocity to the track.

3. Glow
‘Carolina I kept on calling, won’t you bring her back home. I just wanted to say goodbye, if I could only see the light in your eyes,’ O’Leary sings to start off this fantastic track. ‘Glow’ is a track that focuses on past feelings and how they resurface and affect a person. The number has a fantastic chorus that really sticks.
This is one aspect that Off Road Minivan does really well. The song creates a dream-like atmosphere, with the synth and key- board adding extra texture in the bridge of the song. When O’Leary sings ‘I never let you go’ in the bridge combined with the visceral keyboard melody from Sweeny, there is a sense of magic. It is truly one of the most unique parts of this song.

2. Light Up The Room
This is a slower and more condensed song by Off Road Minivan founded on a delayed guitar melody by Brinson. The bass and drums in this song work together brilliantly to create a genuinely satisfactory and intertwined beat in the verse, before an intricate guitar melody fills into the chorus.
The instrumentation on this track alone is worth a listen, and combined with O’Leary’s soothing voice you get a fantastic aural experience: ‘Close your eyes, say my name, you can feel me in the rain,’ is one of the most memorable lyrics in this song, which focuses on love and its special qualities and accompanying heartbreak.

1. Spiral Gaze
‘Spiral Gaze’ is the song that started it all for this band and is understandably the number one pick. The song starts off with a melancholy and minor delayed lead guitar melody which provides the backbone to the song. ‘See right through my face, don’t notice I’m gone, gone, gone. Down a spiral gaze of comatose tones,’ O’Leary sings at the start of this number.
The song looks at how rejection, loneliness and missing someone can impact a person. It is a profound and heart-felt song with much emotion, and O’Leary truly adds to this with his delivery. Another brilliant feature of this song is its main melodic riff which will stick in your head. It is like the glue that keeps the song together.