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With the shock of John Peel’s death still hanging over anyone with a passion for alternative music, going to a gig tonight feels a little like attending a funeral wake. I needed to hear some strangely intoxicating new sounds as some kind of reassurance that alternative music could live and thrive without its godfather. Oceansize have enjoyed rave reviews of late; their debut album ‘Efflorescence’, and single ‘Catalyst’ creating a buzz among critics and fans alike. I knew that a cover of 'Teenage Kicks' was off the cards; it would sit amongst the Oceansize set as comfortably as Boy George at a Klu Klux Klan convention; but I was anticipating a sonic tribute of sorts.
There’s no dedication to Mr Peel, but Oceansize seem to pride themselves on sitting aloof anyway. This is stoner prog-metal for indie kids. Chords hang in the air, and silences are pin-drop quiet. ‘One Out Of None’ is colossal and ‘Catalyst’ is dense and heavy (just don’t mention A Perfect Circle). The encore ‘Women Who Love Men Who Love Drugs’ is a sharp journey through metal-infused psychedelic ear bashing. Sadly though, Oceansize spend most of their set traipsing through meandering "arrangements" that reek of pointless four hour jam sessions. Barely a word is spoken to the audience, although frontman Mike Vennart scowls down his nose at them every ten seconds as if to say “That last chord is the one that will change your world”. It’s difficult to take that look entirely seriously when even his sidemen appear to be slipping further and further into comas.
Oceansize are best at their darkest; cutting huge grooving swathes of multi-layered noise through dense guitar and vocal harmonies. It’s all incredibly monumental and epic, but also transient and wandering, and all too often leading to inevitable bonged-out shoe staring. Maybe I expected too much from them, but their insistent pretentiousness had me heading for the bar. Which is a shame since I’m sure John would have agreed that their Mogwai-raised-on-Sabbath epics seem like such a great idea.
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