FRAMES

I began listening to Oceansize in late 2010, only a few month before the band made an official announcement of calling it a day. My journey began with the band's latest offering, Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up, since I was planning to see their live gig. But I soon shifted my attention to Frames since it clearly was considered the pinnacle of the band's career featuring fan favorites like Trail Of Fire and Only Twin.

Let me start by saying that I've never really understood the whole Indie Rock phenomenon, which might explain my presence on this website, and have to admit that Oceansize definitely has that vibe. Likely, the band is much more versatile than most Indie Rock artists. These qualities do come into play and even hijack Frames halfway through the album, but more on that later. The first few tracks have more of a commercial approach to them and I doubt that they alone would be enough to certify the band's status as a progressive rock act. Here is where we get the most clear definition of the ups and downs of their style where Trail Of Fire is dreamy, melodic and appealing to my ears, while Unfamiliar features that emotionless and generic approach to songwriting that I honestly never cared for.

The second part of the album ditches all the need to show off the band's versatile approach to music making, for the sake of it, and concentrates on creating really passionate music that I can easily stand behind. The only pity comes in the fact that the 10 minute closer, The Frame, is just not on par with any of the material that preceded it and I'm truly surprised that Oceansize decided to keep it instead of the superior track Voorhees.

Overall, Frames showed me a new atmospheric side of Oceansize and their repertoire. The compositions generally run a few minutes longer than the tracks off Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up, giving way for the band's Space Rock sound to really grow. I can't exactly say that I'm a huge fan of Oceansize due to the reasons that I've mentioned previously and the big stylistic shift between the tracks does make it difficult for me to see this album as a whole. Still, it's definitely an enjoyable experience well worth checking out.

***** star songs: Trail Of Fire (8:06)

**** star songs: Commemorative ____ T-Shirt (8:37) Savant (8:07) Only Twin (7:22) An Old Friend Of The Christies (10:19) Sleeping Dogs And Dead Lions (6:42)

*** star songs: Unfamiliar (6:32) The Frame (10:08)