Album Review

We Are The Ocean – Cutting Our Teeth [2-disc Re-release]

• 1st Oct 2010

Sometimes, phrases like ‘Deluxe Edition’ and ‘re-release’ equate to being ripped off. Not so with We Are The Ocean’s ‘Cutting Our Teeth’ 2-disc package. Rather than a series of lengthy re-mixes, this is the definitive collection of their work.

Their back-catalogue is surprisingly extensive for such a young band. The first disc is the album as it was originally recorded; the second boasts two B-sides, the band’s first EP, along with four brand new tracks. New fans will have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with their old material, while dedicated fans can enjoy all the songs they love in one place (including that hard-to-come-by first EP in its entirety) as well as the band’s latest output.

It’s interesting to compare the band’s beginnings to their first full-length album, as well as the new songs. The tracks from the EP, including fan favourite ‘Nothing Good Has Happened Yet’ , are filled with the raw, high-energy aggression that many new post-hardcore bands exhibit – it’s as though vocalists Dan and Liam are locked in a guitar-driven duel, fighting to make an audience move. This appealing naivety is replaced on the full-length album by a sound that is equally stirring but exudes a tighter sense of ‘togetherness.’The new songs build further on this with an even more guttural, insistent band effort to enthral listeners – particularly new single ‘Lucky Ones,’ which plays heavily on the contrast between the two voices the band vaunts and suggests even more promise from the band’s future releases.

We Are The Ocean have cut their teeth, earned accolade either side of the Atlantic and released two discs bursting with single-worthy tracks in the space of a few short years. What will the next decade see them do? A stadium tour? A ‘Greatest Hits’ album? As the genre of music they so capably produce attracts ever more attention and praise, the world is surely their oyster!