DEEP REEF DREAM

One of the more intriguing and enjoyable new bands of the last decade, these Minnesotans are just releasing their third album.

1. "Things Inside" (5:32) I just love the melodic sensibilities of these songwriters/performers. The bass sound is primo/number one as are the guitarist's creative chord-play. The vocals and lyrics are a bit mundane and the music spans an odd spectrum from pop jazzy to 1980s heavy metal (when the vocalist sounds like Sammy Hagar). (8.75/10)

2. "Parthenon" (3:26) a snappy, melodic, prog instrumental. Nice to hear such multi-layered structure with a central contribution of violin. A top three song for me. (8.75/10)

3. "Tijuana Sunset" (3:56) if Jean-Luc Ponty and Rush were to have collaborated with Herb Alpert. Hard-drivin' jazz- rock fusion. Nice axe solo in the third minute. In the end, a little too jam-formatted. Still loving this bass! (8.75/10)

4. "Smee" (2:10) nice atmospheric soundtrack music. Love the submersive bass and airy vocalise. (4.5/5)

5. "Psyclops" (5:01) a walk on the band's heavier side. Nice composition with fair vocals and lyrical message--and that gets better as the song progresses (despite sounding a bit 1980s-familiar in the instrumental fourth and fifth minutes). Impressive drumming. Violin is back with a great solo in the third minute. Heavy prog is really much better with violins. (8.75/10)

6. "Underwater Cigarettes" (0:54) familiar piano motif with multiple effects. (4.25/5)

7. "Deep Reef Dream" (5:53) opens like MAROON FIVE's "Sunday Morning" before turning trip-hop smooth jazzy. Very pretty, melodic, and chill. Nicely layered and developed instrumental. One of my top three songs. (8.75/10)

8. "Mr. Pippy" (1:54) carnival sounds turn to BLUE NILE-like late-night stargazer. Again, welcome sound contribution of the violin. (4.75/5)

9. "Big Beef" (8:32) opens like a bit of a Mexican metal band (CAST) before moving into territory that is more akin to a cross between PAIN OF SALVATION, DEF LEPPARD, and TOTO. This is where plastic-skinned drums show their weakness. In the third minute the music moves more into the atmospheric realms of Prog Metal before returning to the main motif--this time adding violin to the weave. The instrumental passage in the sixth-through-ninth minutes (the second half of the song) is very pleasing--almost hypnotic in a MOTORPSYCHO Death-Defying Unicorn-kind of way. (Love the reverbed trumpet!) What started out as a suspiciously generic metal song turned into something quite good. An excellent way to end an album! (18/20)

Total time: 37:18

I do love the sounds and stylings chosen by bass player Chris Lyons as well as the lushly melodic song structures created by the band as a whole. These boys are, in my opinion, gifted. Unfortunately, none of the music here is really ground-breaking and a lot of it feels rushed, as if the band could have developed these B-plus-grade songs into A-levels had they really put in the extra time and effort. While I thoroughly enjoy this album, it is, unfortunately, a little bit of a let down after the band's superlative 2020 release, The Pseudo-Scientific Study of Oceanic Neo- Cryptid Zoology.

B+/4.5 stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection.

(Originally reviewed at millstreampark.com)

Sometimes an album cover is that good.

No kidding though. There I was, perusing the usual music blogs and video channels, in search of new music. And all it took was one glance at the cover to Deep Reef Dream, the third album from Minneapolis prog rock quartet The Light In The Ocean. They captured my attention. Enough for me to listen to a few tracks, ultimately purchasing the album on Bandcamp.

Sometimes a rock solid Johnny Quest vibe is all it takes?

I've yet listened to the band's earlier output, but if Deep Reef Dream is any indication a deep dive might be in order. This is a 1960s Gold Key Russ Manning comic transmogrified into musical form, a maniacal Hannah-Barbera adventure distilled through the articulated lenses of a Michael Bay/Wes Anderson Brundlefly.

Which is all well and good (and a mite overly-descriptive) but how's the damn music Mills? I'd rate it as enjoyable as all hell, a heady mixture combining the anthemic fun and guitar-driven crunch of hard rock but layered with sweet vocal harmonies and the layers, textures, and escapism you expect in prog. It's a heady mixture, and it works.

Take Things Inside, the opening track, in which jangly, chimey guitars introduce you to dueling vocal lines, punctuated by metal distortion between verses. Even the breakdown is accentuated with tasty trumpet lines, before erupting back into that thick rock thunderstorm. The alternating vocals on the chorus, combined with the comical exclamations between lines ("That's crazy!") drive home the song's motif, "the things I hear inside my head". It's a fantastic opener, a declaration of ethos that convincingly preps you for the spirit of this album.

Almost like a tonic, Parthenon is both a jaunty and atmospheric piece, a spirited instrumental number driven by strings and piano at first, almost like a waltz. Except the time signature is wholly other. By the time the violin takes forefront, the aforementioned jauntiness becomes a bit darker and more menacing. It's an engaging song but it's a bit emotionally discordant; it leaps around with gleeful abandon before coming in for a quick, soft landing. I would love to hear this track further developed into a longer suite.

Not to be outdone, Tijuana Sunset comes in as the second of three instrumentals in a row. It wastes no time establishing tone; a menacing keyboard drone hangs ominously over a pulsing drum beat, erupting into an up-tempo barnstormer and settling into a horn-driven central melody. I hear this and immediately envision The Big Chase Scene, perhaps a submarine race scored by Mark Mothersbaugh and Sergio Leone. Or something. There's a distinct 80s feel to the guitars, both in tone and musicality, a wink and a nod to neo-prog of the era.

We take a quick breather with Smee, a gentle but atmospheric instrumental. The soft opening evokes lifeless waves crashing over a nighttime ocean, broken up by some rather disturbing howls coming over the horizon. There's an engaging vibe to this maritime haunt but it ends as quickly as it begins as we transition into Psyclops, the second vocal number on the album.

In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king; here the Psyclops is obsessed with pollution, poisons, chemicals and residuals. Thee grunge/post-grunge elements at play are both compelling and effective, and the entire song succeeds at being purposefully odd and off-putting. The violin solo provides an unexpected emotional heft to the entire affair, which leads us (and the song) into a cacophonous uproar. Rage or destruction, perhaps? Who is to say?

Underwater Cigarettes is the first of three more instrumentals. This one is a brief sojourn, underneath a minute long. A descending (yet peppy) keyboard line, replete with air bubbles, evokes our entry into this musical bathysphere and descent into the deep. This drives us directly into the title track Deep Reef Dream, in which a sequenced drum pattern and some guitar and keyboard noodling (along with a nebulous PA announcer) welcomes us aboard.

Where are we exactly? The lobby to an underwater hotel? A cruise ship housed in a nuclear sub? Your guess is as good as mine. I'd like to think of the song as the spa music in some supervillain's secret underground lair, or what you might hear at the jazz bar in a "lost" oceanic city. At first, anyhow. I think the song falters a bit when it pivots to a central riff towards the end, but it still kept me engaged throughout.

Mr. Pippy is not what I thought it was going to be about, and thank Poseidon for that. Instead this instrumental is a short, rather introspective interlude. The guitar tones are clean and bright, the keyboard lines thick and moody under the surface. Overall it's a moderate piece, like the sustain of a whale song coursing through the oceans, but it doesn't last long enough to leave much impression.

The vocals return for the album's final piece, the eight minute/thirty second monster epic Big Beef. I am avoiding the Big Beef/Mr. Pippy analysis because avoiding Freudian implications keeps blog advertisers happy. Of which I have none. Anyway, Big Beef is a great big freakin' octopus, presumably the Technicolor monstrosity on the album cover, and he's doing what great big freakin' octopi do, which is declare war on humanity.

Can you blame him?

Big Beef is a your great big freakin' epic rocker, utterly ridiculous and equally charming all at once. The lyrics are silly as all hell but sung with perfect earnestness. Whether we are on a deep cave dive and wrapped up in tentacles, or washed up on the shore wrapped in seaweed, or witnessing a strange octopus-like silhouette is haunting the ocean by moonlight, we are in pure widescreen mode.

Make no mistake this is pure 50s monster movie imagery, brought to life with tolling bells, surf guitar riffs, thickly distorted power chords, howling horns and wailing saxes. The middle breakdown ebbs and flows like waves left in the monster's wake. While Big Beef is probably my least favorite of the three vocal numbers, it remains effective and entertaining enough to act as a proper album closer.

Overall I enjoyed the musical adventure that Deep Reef Dream provided. Dismissing it as "over-the-top" is missing the point; this is a delightful and engaging rock/prog musical romp, where the hooks, melody, and crunch of hard rock meet prog's more complex and diverse compositional explorations. All the while invoking killer octopi, oceanic lairs, chemical monsters, pirates, and jazz bars in Atlantis. Even if the album does meander at times, Deep Reef Dream remains musically daring whilst also an anthemic hard rock sojourn.

The Light in the Ocean is a Minneapolis-based quartet with a penchant for sea life. Both this record and their prolix 2020 album?The Pseudo-Scientific Study of Oceanic Neo-Cryptid Zoology?have featured cephalopods on the album art; and their 2019 debut heavily focused on seafaring. I wouldn't have expected such themes from a band based in a landlocked state. (Then again, many a Hawkwind song is about space, yet they live on Earth.)

The music on Deep Reef Dream feels like a logical next step in their sound, based on what I heard on their last album. This release has more heavy moments than its predecessor, and the band has fully integrated both violin and trumpet into their songwriting. The music remains both complex and accessible, though. The album is also much less lyrically-focused, with six of the nine songs being instrumental.

One of the three songs with lyrics kicks things off. "Things Inside" opens with a heavily-phased guitar line that is gentle and subtly jazzy. The vocal melody is immediately engaging, and the hook in the chorus is incredibly infectious. Combined with this big, catchy refrain are walls of crushing distortion that add a lot of grandiosity. This mixture of metallic riffs and intelligent melodies reminds me a lot of some of Devin Townsend's best work. This song's midsection features some quiet and dark instrumental interplay, with slight electronic influences in the percussion.

Following that banger of an opening track, the band launches into a series of instrumental cuts. First among these is "Parthenon", which prominently features piano, violin, and crashing, metallic percussion. It's dramatic and tense, and this piece flies by.

"Tijuana Sunset" has an energetic, racing first moments. Propulsive-yet-restrained drumming pushes this along as synthesizers growl and violins swell. The eventual main theme which bursts forth is a Mexican-flavored trumpet line that certainly evokes the title's imagery. The guitar stays in the background at first, but its jittery strumming is an excellent element. There is eventually a flashy, Lifesonesque solo that acts as a strong bridge between repetitions of the main motif. "Smee", meanwhile, is an atmospheric palette cleanser featuring broad distant wordless vocals and mellow guitar chords.

The next track with lyrics is "Psyclops". (Great title, by the way!) The opening riff is slow and plodding, and the long enunciation on the stressed syllables adds to the song's weight. As the song progresses, there is a sense of rising through immense pressure, only to be beaten back down by the heavy guitar parts. There is another strong hook here, though it's not quite the brainworm that "Things Inside"'s chorus is. What this song does have, though, is a top-notch violin solo which is dynamic, dramatic, and surprising.

Following the brief piano interlude "Underwater Cigarettes" is the Deep Reef Dream's title track. This song's opening is somewhat electronic with its beat and simple piano chords. When the rest of the band joins in, there's a light, tropical feel to the music. The song gradually builds in intensity, and despite this piece's (relative) length and structural simplicity, it manages to maintain engaging. Another short piece, "Mr. Pippy", follows this. It's a smooth, mellow scene-setter for Deep Reef Dream's finale.

"Big Beef" is the album's longest song, and it explodes from the get-go with a thrash metal riff. The vocal melody is similar to that of "Things Inside", acting as something of a bookend. The drumming on this track is especially impressive, full of tight, technical fills. The song swells with grandeur, and the vocal arrangements add great depth. As the song progresses, violins and saxophone herald a slower, spacier passage. Toms and hand percussion keep the song grounded, though, as it slowly dissolves.

Deep Reef Dream is a very fun record that balances big, melodic hooks alongside odder instrumental excursions. The addition of violin and trumpet to the band's sound has been a massive boon; those instruments add a new layer of depth that feels completely natural. There's a little bit of something for everybody on this record, and it gels in an amazingly cohesive way.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2022/08/22/album-review-the-light-in-the-ocean-deep-reef-dream/