Popdose - Latest Comments in Why You Should Like… The Ocean Blue

Re: Why You Should Like… The Ocean Blue

James — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 21:20:29 -0000

I was a huge fan of New Wave and the first time I heard them I thought they were a just throw back band. But, I saw them on a locally produced video show and heard more of their songs and I realized that they were much deeper. My favorite album is Beneath, with a perfect blend of the synth and guitar prominence. When Steve left the band they not only lost his keyboard but his excellent sax solos. With Oed they developed more of a power pop sound but still very polished.

Re: Why You Should Like… The Ocean Blue

Jeff — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:16:43 -0000

You could hardly have picked a better band to do a WYSL on. At least for me. I appreciate the retrospective on them. They always sounded vaguely British to me but I did know they were from the US (although I was thinking Nebraska for some reason). Good job.

Jeff

Re: Why You Should Like… The Ocean Blue

CarlosRamirez — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:26:01 -0000

I still think their BENEATH THE RHYTHM AND SOUND album is their best. Their unique blend of Johnny Marr/Byrds guitars and horns gets me every time! I remember when MTV's 120 Minutes always played "Sublime."

Re: Why You Should Like… The Ocean Blue

Jack Feerick — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:51:45 -0000

Sweet write-up as always, John.

I think if anything the Ocean Blue were undone by this weird myth that every band must "progress." There's nothing intrinsically wrong with your records being kind of samey, with doing one thing and doing it well—but it seems to be anathema in the pop world. I can think of only one band who were able to turn their very lack of "progress" into a selling point, and that's the Ramones. Everybody else is under constant pressure to reinvent themselves, even if they don't really need reinvention.

Cerulean wasn't a bad record, but you could sense the pressure behind it, the push for Schelzel to pursue some ideal of sophistication, even world-weariness, that simply didn't suit him. I mean: putting a song called "I've Sung One Too Many Songs for a Crowd That Didn't Want to Hear" on your second album? When you're 22 years old, fa chrissakes? Dude, that's just Trying Too Hard.