My freshman year in college I used to do something that all
my friends thought was really weird. I would go to concerts by myself. Not big stadium shows, but small standing-room shows at some of the most run-down,
sketchy places in the DFW Metroplex. I always went to these shows by myself
because I would see bands that no one I knew listened to or has even heard of.
The benefit of that was that I could be whoever I wanted to be. If I felt like
raging, if I felt like standing in the back, it didn’t matter because I was by
myself. So I am standing in the back at show while the opening acts play. The
place was dead, near empty. The main acts were outside hanging out, so most of
the people at the show were too (there still couldn’t have been more than 150
people all together). So I am sitting there probably thinking about where I was
going to stop and eat after the show when the second opening act started to
play. It was a group of young guys all about my age. They were new and not
from around the area, hence the lack of fans. Then they started playing. Holy
Mother-of-Pearl. These guys were good. Beyond their years good if you asked me.
How could they be unknown? They handed out their first EP for free after the
show. I grabbed it and listened to it the rest of that semester on repeat.
These guys were going to be huge, they had to get huge. Talent was oozing out
of them. Well those guys were Ocean is Theory. Four years later, they finally
released their first full length LP. They may not be big yet like I expected,
but the talent is still all there.
Ocean Is Theory – Future Fears
This record is an example of why it is so hard to make it in
the music business. After three different EPs and almost a complete change in
the bands sound, they finally got signed to Razor and Tie Records. Well after
some stuff happened, (not really clear on what so don’t ask me) they ended up
releasing this well after it was recorded on their own.
A word that describes how this record makes me feel is
melancholy. I don’t mean that in a bad way. It is just a very mellow sounding
album. It starts off with “While We’re Young”, a song about having no regrets.
It has a quick tempo and a striking chorus. It goes from there with a good mix
of slower paced and high tempo tunes that blend well together. No song seems
out of pace thematically or musically. The vocals are strong and fluctuate all
over from a whisper to a scream, always conveying lots of emotion. The instruments all do what they are meant to, providing feeling and a distinct
rythm to almost every song. These are power-chorus songs that will be stuck in
your head for days. Songs like Best
Intentions, Scared Now, and King Sized Bed are
standouts in this regard. The end of the record does stand out a little less in
comparison to the first half for me. I felt like some of the songs started to
blend. Thankfully I liked them all regardless so it wasn’t a huge complaint. About
half the album is made up of previously released songs which is a bit of a
bummer as well.
Rating: 4/5 "It's Just Swell"
Even though it has been four years since I first heard them,
I would still say they have talent beyond their years. This is a fantastic
first effort. Hopefully it will lead to an even better second, third, etc. If
not, well I suppose that is why the music business is what it is.
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