Review: We Are The Ocean - Cutting Our Teeth

Coming to a new band is, for me, like trying a completely new dish. If I really want to give it a fair go, each mouthful has to be savoured and contemplated carefully. Otherwise it's like disregarding it simply because it contains something horrible like, say, liver. When it comes to a band like We Are The Ocean, merely glancing at the titles of the songs on Cutting Our Teeth, their debut album, might cause me to be hasty in categorising them as my musical equivalent of liver.
Let's get one thing straight though. We Are The Ocean have a market, and they know how to deliver what that market craves. This Essex five piece are all clean-cut, well dressed and good looking. Teenage girls must love 'em, and I admire them for that – I know I am probably none of those things.
It's easy to see why album opener 'Look Alive' is the first single. It's catchy; the main hook being the easy-to-remember choral lyrics, handled by rhythm guitarist Liam Cromby, and is an anthem for disaffected teenagers if ever I heard one. But it's main vocalist Dan Brown, in my opinion the stronger of the two, who yelps out his lines with enthusiastic vigour and really holds my attention. My only real criticism is his range – most of his vocals are monotonal, which detracts somewhat from the heavier sections of We Are The Ocean's material, which is a shame, because I feel that's where they have missed their calling. The opening to '(I'll Grab You by the) Neck of the Woods' is perfect post-hardcore, but unfortunately these moments are few and far between.
For me though, their biggest failing is in the lyrics themselves. Maybe I'm just a little far beyond the angst of my teenage years but most, if not all of the ten tracks on offer here are woefully self-indulgent and offer little hope. Clichés run rife like kids in a candy shop (and even force all originality from my similies), and the numerous rhymes they've come up with are just weak, for lack of a better word. In a genre awash with this type of anthemic emo punk, I just don't think they're anything special.

What are we missing?

My new favourite thing of the moment is Stumbleupon. At the press of a button, this neat little gadget will take you to a random page in the category or categories of your choice that other users of the application have flagged up. It's pretty amazing some of the things you come across, and I'm going to endeavour to bring you the best.

The most recent thing I 'stumbled' upon was this article.

It's pretty amazing what we do miss. I wonder if anyone who was actually a fan of the musician in question would have noticed. If it was someone I admire, would I have noticed? I am woefully guilty of walking around everywhere with my earphones in and my own music turned up. What have I missed? What if, whilst enjoying the heartfelt tunes of Frank Turner, I walked right past him busking on the London Underground?

It also begs the question, if I don't know about it, am I negatively affected in any way? If a tree falls in the forest and no-one's around to hear it, does it make a sound.

I think one of the comments makes a valid point: it's about desire. We appreciate things when we seek to experience them, but if someone's doing something amazing out of context, we tend not to notice, or to think it's slightly odd. Not that this is how it should be, but it's certainly one explanation.