Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Oceansize
Label: Superball Music
Release: 2009
Rating: 4/5
Oceansize, a five-piece from Manchester, are well established by now and have a rich history behind them. Over more than a decade together, they’ve grown into one of the most respected bands of the so-called post rock/metal movement. In 2007 there was a seemingly minor shake-up when the bassist left, but the band was clearly on the brink of falling apart. In the end, though, his departure actually helped them, since they came back even stronger and ready to embrace some changes in their music too.
In the past, Oceansize were known for their distinctive style, which mostly mixed elements of post rock and metal, with all sorts of other genres thrown in. At the end of last year we got the first fruits of their renewed push toward a studio album (due out in March 2010), in the form of an EP called Home & Minor. And that wasn’t even the biggest news! What really surprises is the sound of the record itself, because Oceansize’s approach here is a bit different.
It’s commendable that Oceansize went for a change of style on this EP, since that’s exactly what releases like this should be for. Home & Minor puts them in a completely different light, mostly testing their chops in good old-fashioned post rock. Not that they haven’t done that before, but this time there are no metal outbursts and no more aggressive passages. This time we hear pure post rock, with the influence of Sigur Ros, Mogwai and, at moments, even Radiohead shining through. It’s a fairly gentle release that will win over the romantic souls more than those who were used to what Ocenasize were doing before.
It’s impossible to pick out good or bad moments on the record, because the music flows as one whole and gives you much the same feeling from start to finish. There are no peaks and no ups and downs. I’m not saying the music isn’t beautiful, but it all follows the same formula, over and over. There’s also a serious lack of dramatic tension, which is supposed to be one of the main ingredients of post rock. No build-ups, no layering. Sure, a lot of those so-called epic crescendos in post rock have become so stereotypical and formulaic that you can predict almost to the second when the sensational “explosion” is going to hit, but when a band can pull it off well, it can be truly magnificent.
So Home & Minor shows another side of Oceansize, but it also pulls them away from their own way of expressing themselves, which we were used to in the past. This time the influence of certain post rock bands, which I’ve already listed, is almost too obvious. It’s nice that they’re trying to do something different, but the fact is that their earlier albums showed a much greater measure of their own creativity. Still, in the end only the music matters, and this is solid, pretty, dreamy and emotional too, with just a bit more drama and dynamic swing missing. You can tell these guys have a talent for this kind of venture too, but they haven’t yet conquered post rock itself to the extent that the giants of the genre have – Sigur Ros, Godspeed You Black Emperor, and so on. Either way, we can already start drooling before their fourth studio release arrives.
author: Rok Podgrajšek
Lineup
Steve Durose – guitar, vocals
Richard “Gambler” Ingram – guitar, keyboards
Mark Heron – drums, percussion
Steven Hodson – bass, keyboards
Mike Vennart – lead vocals, guitar
Guests: Tom Knott – trumpet, Norman McLeod – pedal steel guitar, Kate Ray – vocals
Production
Oceansize
Tracklist
1. Legal Teens 4:28
2. Getting Where Water Cannot 5:24
3. Monodrones 2:34
4. Home & Minor 8:10
5. Didnaeland 3:22
6. The Strand 8:04
