Two Oceans - artifact

Two Oceans

artifact
self-released; 2015

3.3 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Two Oceans started in 2009 with Thomas Cooper as a solo project. In 2012 his brothers Quinn Martin and Cole Martin joined. After that other musicians began contributing to the group. The group has said that, “The EP is a demonstration of where we started and where we're going” and after taking a listen hopefully this short EP will be just the beginning of greater things to come.

Let me start out by saying I like the vibe of these three songs and I also thought they were well written. Cooper while not in the same league as Morrissey as a singer often reminded me of him and if he continues to work on it and improves will be exceptional. There were two factors they were holding back these three songs. The first is the recording quality. It’s about that of a demo and while not unlistenable I would have loved to hear these songs with good production.

 Luckily, this is easily something that can be fixed by working with an engineer who knows what they are doing and some decent equipment. The second issue, which they need to work on is playing in time together. To say they were out of the pocket would be an understatement. The timing is often sloppy and off at points that even those of us who have no musical training will notice. 

The biggest timing issues are most noticeable on the first song “Went Out.”. That being said the music is pretty enjoyable all around. The horns were such a good addition to the mood of the song that it wouldn’t have been the same without it. It’s really the horns and the lead vocal the make the song work.

Up next is “Taillights” which is another solid song and will definitely remind you of The Smiths. Cooper not only sounds like Morrissey but the music is reminiscent of something you would hear from the group. It’s a catchy yet melancholy song just like the juxtaposition The Smiths would utilize. “artifact” uses fuzz in a way none of the other songs do. I enjoyed the combo of white noise and clean picked guitar. 

To get to the point - the band really just needs to do some tweaking and tighten up their delivery and they will be a formidable band that I think a lot of people would enjoy. It’s a simple case of practicing more and defining their chemistry and they will be well on their way.  

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