It would be easy to simply lump We Are The Ocean alongside the wave of UK post-hardcore bands like Funeral For A Friend, Lostprophets and From First To Last. But Now Go And Live presents a compelling argument to dig deeper.
For starters, the duel vocals of Dan Brown and Liam Cromby set them apart from the pack, embodying the power and the passion respectively. The call-and-response passages between Brown’s lung-testing shouts and Cromby’s earnest grain (eerily similar to Ian Kenny’s) ensure things move at a ripping pace. A cracking stride that is established by the deceptively titled album entree Trouble Is Temporary, Time Is Tonic. It sets a blistering, muscular tone for the record’s remaining half-hour.
Somewhere in the twelve months since their debut, the Essex five-piece have learnt not only the value of good editing, but how to write a catchy tune too. Pluck any one of the ten cuts at random, and chances are it’s fit for radio: possessed of an immediate punch, an earnest melody and the requisite three-and-a-half minute length. What It Feels Like rattles along on brawny guitars and memorable hooks, where Godspeed whips through a heavy-edged verse to a harmonic chorus of ‘goodbye, goodbye.’ Elsewhere there’s Overtime Is A Crime’s low-slung gusto, and the swelling vulnerability of Now & Then. Yearning rock hits all.
Partial credit is due to producer Peter Miles, who adds an atmospheric sheen without glossing over the band’s cathartic energy. The tougher parts have been sharpened which emphasises the gentler moments. That accessibility has certainly come at the cost of invention, We Are The Ocean won’t win any prizes for boundary-pushing, but their professionalism is to be applauded. Here is a band whose commercial tilt is the result of a band who’ve worked hard at their craft and now want to reap the rewards.
