Austin Sound

Although the buzz was a buzzin’ at Emo’s Lounge about Oh No! Oh My!, who were just back from their European tour, Legs Against Arms and Corto Maltese stole the spotlight with their effervescent energies and incredibly catchy set lists. But, let’s start at the beginning. Before opener Gulf of Mexico had even started, there was a decent amount of people shuffling into a poorly lit Emo’s Lounge. The Lounge isn’t quite the pinnacle of the Emo’s trilogy, if you know what I mean… Even so, if you build it, and call it Emo’s, they will come.

Emerging from the water that was the band Science until last year, Gulf of Mexico is essentially the same group, performing from Science’s catalog, yet having added Mathew Konsa on drums and rearranged their setup to put Greg Tenenbown out front while primary songwriter Joseph Koehl handles the guitar work. The quartet also originally featured Bill Baird, who still contributes to several songs here on their debut full-length as Gulf of Mexico. Yet in spite of Tenenbown and Koehl’s long history together – they first began collaborating in 2001 - Rooms You’ve Never Seen Before still seems to find the band searching for a coherent sound, even as moments of spectacular promise burst throughout the ten songs.