Customer Reviews

Songs About the Ocean

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This collaboration with The Apples in stereo, Oranger, Palermo, and Von Hemmling is incredible. The tracks leave me craving for more each and everytime, and the tunes are really catchy and upbeat. I'd recommend this CD to anyone who's a lover of indie music or a music lover in general.

The Apples in Stereo is one of the top bands in the Elephant 6 collective, and now the band has been cut down the middle. One half is Robert Schneider's band ulysses, and the other High Water Marks. Now High Water Marks makes a solid lo-fi debut, "Songs about the Ocean" with its own fuzzy psychedelic-edged version of garage rock.

It kicks off with the mildly discordant pop ditty "Good I Feel Bad," which seems to switch tempo into a mildly blistering rocker halfway through. A fuzzy bass kicks in for "Queen Verlaine," which doesn't manage to really be either good or bad -- but that sound is taken into outer space with the densely-packed fuzz-bass and electronic blips of "Sixth of July."

High Water Marks has weird mix of the raw and laid-back, mixed in with some crazy beats that never quite get catchy. It's all a little too straightforward to really make your feet tap. But it is a fun musical adventure, simple rock with some wild twists -- such as the sinuous guitar riffs in "Good I Feel Bad" -- and a psychedelic edge.

Sidney provides some solid, clear leading guitar as well as some equally clear vocals, but her singing tends to get buried in the dense instrumentation. Her voice is too wispy to stand above "Sixth of July's" heavy bass and fuzz. Per Ole Bratset's almost androgynous voice is a bit stronger than Sidney's, but he still tends to get overwhelmed by the music.

And the other band members have some excellent credentials as well -- Sidney got fellow Elephant-6-er Mike Snowdon to contribute some excellent basslines, full of heavy fuzz that feels like an avalanche on your ears. But she also has Per Ole Bratset of Palermo providing some wickedly twisting lead guitar. Jim Lindsay of Oranger and Preston School of Industry round out the group with some drumbeats you have to dig to find.

High Water Marks have plenty of promise, if they build on "Songs About the Ocean." Don't expect the Apples in Stereo -- just expect some solid lo-fi fuzz-rock, and you won't be disappointed.

The High Water Marks are a crashy, bashy, poppy treat for the ears. Think early-90's super-high density pop and beat-driven analog organ melodies that made you want to sing along and bop your head from side to side --happiness in song, and even when it's sad; it makes you happy!

Brought to you by some of today's best minds in indie-rock, The High Water Marks boast members that have crossed the distance to work with eachother, all the way from Oslo, Norway to New York; and via snail-mail no less. That's right, the collaboration was done between members of the band by mail.

Recorded between January and August of 2003 by Hilarie Sydney on guitar and lead vocals (Apples in Stereo, Secret Square), Per Ole Bratset on lead guitar and vocals (Palermo), Mike Snowden on bass (Von Hemmling), and Jim Lindsay on drums (Oranger, Preston School of Industry). This record is a veritable who's-who-where, with Apples in Stereo's Robert Schneider even stepping in to do the mixing. No, not underwear; WHO's-who-WHERE.

Bordering on some of the catchiest punky-pop I've heard in some time, most songs on this album are crunchy-fast, and just about good enough to eat. And although thirteen tracks live and breathe on 'Songs About The Ocean,' it seems to pass me by so quickly each time, that I have to pull out my chair and run, (run!), to that stereo and press play before it ends all over again. For The High Water Marks, this is a first release that I can only hope will be followed up with several other releases under the same name (and with the same members), barring what must be for each of them; a very busy schedule.

Bridging Hilarie's Velocity Girl-ish vocals with a spinning pop sound, the sparkly first track 'Good I Feel Bad' starts out the album. Other standout tracks include 'Have Another Dream,' 'Queen of Verlaine,' and a very singable number called 'National Time.' The High Water Mark's 'Songs About The Ocean' changes tempo with your moods, and I'm sure the tide too! It's a very dreamy and at times relaxed, and fun album, by a very dreamy and fun band. I want The High Water Marks to take ME home to meet "Queen of Verlaine," because with all this dancing around to, 'If I surely don't stop now / I won't stop tomorrow...' I'm beginning to feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland under the sea right now...

But it is nice to see Hilarie write her own songs and go her own direction without Robert. The album is really sweet and lo-fi with a twist of rock. Listen to Queen of Verlaine first if you can.

Unbelievably, people are already nostalgic for the 90's. There's VH-1's "I Love The 90's," the recent outpouring of affection towards Bill Clinton, (even our current President seemed to miss him) and now there's The High Water Marks.

They revisit a particular 90's phenomenon; multi-gender band dabbling in cutesy melodies with screeching guitars, and containing at least one tall, lanky member who usually resembles veteran character actor James Cromwell.

Like those 90's bands, (Veruca Salt, Belly, etc.) the HWM's main flaw is that they try too hard to be adorable. "Have Another Dream" is perfect for babytalk and cooing with your loved one. The feedback in "Things To Do" sounds more like dolphins fornicating than a guitar. Even "Suicide" will make you think of cute 90's alternative girls with barrettes in their hair.

Finally, as if pushing a joke way too far, they're actually on Eenie Meenie records.