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7 out of 10
Hailing from Nottingham, Ocean Bottom Nightmare makes quite a racket for a three-piece. The first thing that grabs me about this EP is the production. It matches their sound perfectly, capturing the unrelenting ball of energy that they feed into the music. Genre defining is fairly pointless here as their influences are clearly widespread, but it sounds like they’ve taken bits of Biffy Clyro here, bits of Refused there, and added their own personal touch of edgy rock shenanigans that almost enters Faith No More territory on numerous occasions.
The distorted bass guitar works as well with their sound as it does for Reuben’s, complemented by quirky yet full on riffs to keep things interesting as well as rocking. The vocals are strong and also work well with the sound of the band, switching between group harmonic singing, shouting and all-out screaming, and littered with Patton-isms if you keep your ears peeled.
The slower, more melodic parts complement the raw edginess of OBM’s music and certainly add something to the band’s signature sound, although I personally favour the more out of control moments; the end of EP highlight ’Navigator’ sounds more than a little Refused-esque as all three members erupt on cue.
In fact, the more I listen to ’We Are Serious’, the more promising it becomes. The energy that OBM create here is genuinely infectious and this does them all kinds of favours, especially as it’s something that so many bands fail to capture on record. And trust me (oh go on) when I say that if this EP whets your appetite, seeing them live will have you salivating uncontrollably, because they bring the rock like Michael Barrymore brings death in swimming pools.
If this EP proves one thing to me, it’s that OBN are standing on a narrow ridge. The drop off on one side is the bottomless pit of obscurity, and on the other is a trampoline that will catapult them to the next level. The song writing is clearly strong and their sound already their own, so with a few more hooks to turn peoples’ heads, OBN could be onto something pretty special here. I’ll be keeping both eyes on this lot.
Listen: www.myspace.com/oceanbottomnightmare
Tracklist:
1. Defiling Apep With The Left Foot
2. The Blade Was Rusted Like Aquatic Machines
3. Navigator
4. Itchy, Tasty
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