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The music of seamen and pirates is usually equated with rambunctious drinking songs. Jigs, rum and an overly energetic accordion player are what come to mind to accompany men who spend their time isolated on the ocean. Austin’s the Able Sea is not recalling these typical slovenly mariners. As indicated by the name, this three-piece band writes of the wandering souls of the ocean, and an essay included with the album, without directly doing so, instructs listeners to imagine lonely seamen bobbing among the waves. Yet these are not the rowdy pirates the Flogging Molly sings of, but rather what pirates would have been like if they had psychedelic drugs. The Able Sea’s self-titled debut is nine songs of drifting, sleepy pop with a ‘60s twang. Although the album as a whole is effortlessly smooth and all but melts out of the speakers, individual songs fail to leave much of an impression.
Lead singer Alex Thompson has the low-key vocal quality of early Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard. This unobtrusive style is a fit pairing for the music, but is so obscure under the weeping electric organ (also played by Thompson) that the lyrics seem expendable. For a band so seemingly centered on a theme, this could be a disservice. The only discernible lyrics the first few spins of the album yield are the often repeated one-liners, leaving listeners with the unshakable feeling that they have missed something. The repetitive lyrics and musical interlude approaching the end of standout track “Living on the Land” reaffirm that the band’s entrancing layers could stand alone without aid from the garbled vocals.
Opening track “Western Dreams” encompasses the tone of the album perfectly. A ghostly organ intro fades into sync with lonesome guitar slides. The guitar styling channels early psych-rock so perfectly that it seems odd to hear it without the vintage scratch of a needle on record. Most of the songs are in the vein of the opening track, and while they are all pleasant compositions, they tend to smudge together. “1st Man on the Sun” juxtapositions itself, with a picked acoustic guitar intro replacing the formulaic organ lead-in. Interrupting the lazy, floating tunes is the subtle snap of “Tell Yourself.” This comparably up-beat song sounds like the stripped acidic style of the Guess Who. This song is a refreshing switch up and an effective transition to the closer.
The Able Sea does not bring to mind the rough-and-tumble personalities of pirates, but this impossibly lustrous record could script the moments when the waves are calm, and there is nothing left to do besides daydream.
Websites:
http://theablesea.com
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