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In Oceans

Earthwalker EP

Written by: TL on 09/07/2011 21:27:22

There was a time when I think most of us felt like we'd had just about enough of melodic post-hardcore bands trying to make their name with the help of Anthony Green/Jonny Craig wannabes for singers, granted, but I wonder if we'd been so easily tired if we'd been able to foresee the reactionary wave of bands that swore to excessive breakdowns and nauseating layers of autotune (We Came As Romans, Asking Alexandria etc.) and have come to make up the face of 'scenecore' in recent times? I don't know what you think, but with mr. Craig busily facilitating the collapses of both Dance Gavin Dance and Emarosa, and with new material from A Lot Like Birds and Closure In Moscow seemingly far in the future, I think it's about time we had another band come around and save us from the overly electronic monstrosities.

I make this introduction because I recently stumbled over the stag of "Earthwalker EP" staring out at me through the window of my widescreen, and liking the cover, I decided to get my clammy hands on the disc though I had never heard of its parent band In Oceans before - But as I've already pretty much given away, I've since taken a serious liking to the young Californian sixtet. Their style is very similar to those of Closure In Moscow and Dance Gavin Dance. Soaring melodies crash with heavy, beating riffs and drums while dual vocalists go for everything, injecting harsh screams and deep growls between sexy harmonies borrowed from soul and RnB.

While it's admirable how convincingly singers Stephen Parrish and Matty Miller deliver the various styles of harsh vocals, the band's heavier parts are so far only a whisper of potential, merely complementing the poppy parts that are on the other hand quite God damn excellent. You might notice it only in passing on opener "Earthwalker" and less so on track two "Illustrated By:", but as soon as tracks three and four, "Moon Teeth" and "Jupiter" come around, can you seriously tell me that this is not some of the more exhilarating debut music you've heard in a while? I doubt you can. Even if like me, you listen to it enough to get stuck on one singer's curious lisp in "Jupiter", it quickly turns into a quirky feature that does more to give the record character than it does to hinder it.

There's not too much more to say to introduce In Oceans, other than to implore all you people to check it out for you own good. Sure, it might be a bit of a step back in the scene's progression, towards styles already done by Dance Gavin Dance and Closure In Moscow, but "Earthwalker EP" holds the promise of In Oceans being able to provide a weight to the expression that is entirely their own. And so long as they wield and develop it with the sense of flow presented here, I'll take it over the current crop of scene bands any day. I only pray they don't make like Oh Clemency or City Escape, and break up before they get their career rolling.

Download: Moon Teeth, Jupiter, Earthwalker
For The Fans Of: Closure In Moscow, Dance Gavin Dance, Emarosa, Oh Clemency, City Escape
Listen: facebook.com/Inoceansband

Release Date 01.06.2011
**UNSIGNED BAND**