Sometimes there are classic examples of bands who should have released a great EP but instead release a good album. 10 good tracks are not as good as 6 great ones and that’s the golden rule I’d always give any young band. Leave your audience wanting more – never leave them reaching for the skip button.
Scared of the Ocean are very clearly a talented band with some great ideas. But there are too many moments on this album where I was left thinking ‘was this really needed?’ or ‘this would be better if it was shorter’. It’s like the band set out to write an album and included every idea they had, rather than being brave enough to leave some of it on the cutting room floor. The last 90 seconds of the album’s title track, for instance, are pointless. ‘Love Me Dearly (part 1)’ is needless. And there are 30 seconds here and there which, in the scheme of things, sound like good ideas tacked on to the end of songs to give them an atmospheric edge of some kind. In my opinion it just doesn;t work that well.
Which is a shame, because when the band do work, they work super well. ‘See Me, Hear Me’ and ‘These Things’ are great songs, truly great songs. The riffs drive and the drums hit hard. The vocals are passionate and aggressive too: there’s an honesty in these songs that’s believable and real. And that’s why some of the more filler moments are extra disappointing, because you know the band have it in them to be genuinely great. There are moments where the band sound a bit like Blackhole or a less frenetic Gallows and at these points they’re the type of band that make you sit up and be interested.
If this was a six, maybe seven, tracker it would be much, much better and more enjoyable. As it is it’s not a bad record, it’s just not as good as the band obviously are.