Partying In The Ocean Wading Pool

I spent the nights of Gazar Strips' tour of Melbourne back in May on the floor of a little house in Brunswick. I watched a lot of 90s desktop games getting played on the television and spoke a lot of shit to a lot of great guys. These guys all form The Ocean Party. I got a sneak peek/listen at two of the tracks of their upcoming album, including this one, 'Wading In'. You can see the laconic nature of this ensemble's outlook and playing style still remains firmly in check (check the lyrics "It's all the same/Nothing really ever changes/Wading in through/The mess that was made/Is this it/Is this how it goes" or the imagery of cigarette ash on once-white bedsheets), but there is a decidedly layered about-turn in the aesthetics here. The 80s synthetic sheen that permeates 'Wading In' is a welcome extrapolation on the band's early-twentysomething malaise, and judging on the words tumbling forth about it globally, I certainly hope this is the song and album (coming out soon on Spunk Records) that gives these great guys their due.