Dream Pop Legends The Ocean Blue Get Reissue Treatment (ALBUM REVIEW)

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Rock music of the 80’s definitely had its own unique fingerprint, with bands like The Smiths, U2, REM, Cocteau Twins and New Order dominated the modern rock charts. Meeting in junior high school, the founding members of The Ocean Blue decided to start a band influenced by those chart-toppers. Forming in 1986 in Hershey, PA, its core original members included David Schelzel on lead vocals/guitar, Steve Lau on keyboards/saxophone, Bobby Mittan on bass guitar and Rob Minnig on drums and vocals. By 1988, while still in high school, they had signed with Sire Records, the same U.S. label that had already signed The Smiths. Over the next five years the band would release three albums with Sire Records before signing with Mercury Records, and now those first three albums have gotten the vinyl reissue treatment.

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The Ocean Blue’s 1989 self-titled debut album starts off with their first single “Between Something and Nothing”, a rocker that owes a lot to Echo & The Bunnymen and charted at number 2 on the Alternative Rock Charts. The next single from the album, “Vanity Fair” boasts the type of jangly guitar playing that Johnny Marr made famous in The Smiths. “Drifting Falling” was the third single from the album and includes the obligatory saxophone that permeated much of era’s rock music. The whole of their impressive debut albums continues to draw on the band’s influences while finding their own niche. Schelzel’s vocals are reminiscent of Morrissey and Ian McCulloch of Echo & The Bunnymen, which might explain why many were surprised to find that The Ocean Blue was not in fact a British band.

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In 1991, after extensive touring, the band released their sophomore album, Cerulean. While still following the same musical formula, the album has a much more atmospheric feel. “Ballerina Out of Control” it punctuated by dreamy synthesizers and the guitar playing, while still jangly, has a lot more delay. Title track “Cerulean” and “Mercury” are nice slow rockers that see more straightforward keyboard playing driving the song over the moody effects of the guitar. Schelzel seems to find his own vocal styling on this album as well, straying away from mimicking those of his influences, and his singing helps make the band sound even more unique.

Finishing up their contract for Sire Records, Beneath The Rhythm and Sound saw the band combining their formula with a more pop-based sound. “Sublime” is a straight-up pop rock song compared to what the previous albums contained. Tracks like “Bliss is Unaware” and “The Relatives” sees previously more complex guitar playing give way to simple strumming. In listening to the track “Don’t Believe Everything You Hear”, it is noticeably apparent that the band was starting to convert into more of the sound of 90’s modern rock. Not surprisingly, the album has a much more produced and mature feel than their earlier material.

Though The Ocean Blue is still active to this day and has since moved away from the more synth based rock of their early years, these first three albums give a great introduction to the band’s roots. Whether The Ocean Blue is a band that brings feelings of nostalgia or feelings of discovery, these reissues are well worth taking a listen to.

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All three of The Ocean Blue’s Sire albums are out now. 

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