Austin Sound

Self-praised as classically un-hip yet still stylish, The Seas debut full length, Let’s Fake It, is full of anti-mainstream pop and is, despite what the band themselves says, cool. The album is hard to put a finger on, built upon frontman Nurk’s jumpy croon and LaRue’s female harmonies. The Seas move so quickly through moods of experimental pop, psych-rock, elegant melody, and 80s post-punk that it sounds as if you went into the future and listened to one of their greatest hits compilations.

For instance, “Fallen Devil” makes for a decidedly sunny pop song that strolls through melancholy verses and bursting into Byrne and Weymouth influenced refrain (“You make me leave heaven and happy/ you make me feel like a fallen devil”). On the other end of the spectrum is “Don’t Say Anything,” an unsuspecting sleepy, psych-rock ballad accompanied by punchy metronomic drums. The Seas allow a kind of split personality in Let’s Fake It that keeps things interesting and does wonders for the album’s shelf life.

They conjure up a feel of a band incognito — either decidedly shifty in musical taste or just confused. But, for every direction their music goes, the artistic well of the Seas deepens. Songs like “W.I.P” and “Talk to Me” show the quartet steering away from their more jovial inclinations and lend to other, solemn redemptive personas. Even though the band sings about things like post-adolescent sex and romantic mysticism, they still, deep down, have a tarnished ego. “Talk to me talk to me/ no don’t call your lover,” is sung in desperate falsetto over bass-heavy blues and places the dot of insecurity on the Seas own insecure and unassuming nature.

The influences on the Seas are vast and it has worked in their favor to produce an honest and eclectic release that sails so easily across genres, it’s something you have to hear to believe.

Mp3 from Let’s Fake It:
French Toast

Websites:
www.theseas.net
Myspace