By The Sea – By The Sea
- By Matthew Laidlow -
- Nov 14, 2012
Shall we throw a few buzzwords around? Why not, they always go down well don’t they? ‘Joy’, ‘anthem’, ‘bloated’ and ‘exciting’ are just some that are thrown around in the press releases that weirdly sees comparisons to comedian Charlie Brooker and a complete lack of info about themselves.
All that’s really gathered is that By The Sea have lots of friends. Great Pop Supplement are just one, it’s mixed by chum Bill Ryder-Jones whilst future single ‘Game Of Circles’ comes equipped with a remix by their mate Cian Ciaran from Super Furry Animals. Rule 364.2 of band life, By The Sea, please let us know if you’re a solo act under a name or duo, trio etc. Some basic info would be handy.
A comparison to early Stone Roses indicates that you’re imitating something that’s been done twenty years or so ago. Though he/they are from Merseyside, so +1 for no Beatles reference. If you get joyous kicks from sombre tones that sound like a guitar has been thrown against a wall of speakers and recorded faintly in the distance, than By The Sea are the act for you. As the name suggests, this isn’t a seriously souped up metal album. The tones are blissfully catchy and whilst they aren’t merry enough to be indie, they do remind of late Hope Of The States with drained like melodies carrying the song, but that killer hook just doesn’t seem to be there.
Trundling on throughout through what can only be assumed to be a self titled debut, it almost sounds like a collection of demo recordings which need the finished article added. The same formula pattern is followed on each of the nine tracks; this seemingly appears to be creating something in the woozy vocal style of Morrissey and find a guitar riff to coexist alongside. At no point does this need to develop or change about from when a brief breakdown occurs. Presumably so when By The Sea play live, they can take a swig of water or beer if they managed to blag some from the venue.
'Waltz Away’ would have been perfect in the nineties in the heyday of lads attending their first festival and wanting to dig a band that was doing something the polar opposite of acid house and early techno, but the there really is nothing new here at all. Unless it has been mastered incorrectly, it sounds timid and out of place. Like a vegan at a slaughterhouse.
4.5/10
By Matthew Laidlow. Blogs at hecklerspray and tweets at MatthewLaidlow
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