THE OCTOPUS

Amplifier's The Octopus offers a two-album brace of space rock in the Floydian tradition blended seamlessly with more modern alternative rock influences, a seam of post-rock, and maybe a teeny tiny pinch of Genesis and Ozric Tentacles here and there. The band's debt to Pink Floyd is occasionally a leeeeeettle bit overplayed - the opening intro section lifts just a little bit from Dark Side of the Moon and the eagle-eared will pick up some lyrical references here and there - but they're still appreciably more fresh and original than your typical Pink-Floyd-and-alt-rock band like Anathema or something. This one didn't get the attention it deserved when it slipped out a couple of years ago, but hopefully that will change in the long run, though I suspect some may be turned off by the somewhat intrusive and undercooked vocals.