Owl City
Ocean Eyes
©2009 Universal Republic
www.owlcitymusic.com
www.myspace.com/owlcity
 
Where, I ask you, would the electronic music world be without Kraftwerk??? Y'all younger set might say that of someone like say...the Postal Service? It would probably sound very different from the electronic music we know and love today.The cheery electronic percolation of Owl City just surrounds you with sunshine and lifts your spirits. You can't help but smile at the clever lyrics (“we'll take a long walk through the cornfield, and I'll kiss you between the ears”) and subject matter. The unavoidable comparison is The Postal Service, but the sheer size and fantastic consistency of this release should allow the similarity be mentioned and then dropped. 
 
Odd for me to like stuff like this, I cut my teeth on Joy Division, The Cure, The Sound, Echo and Bunnymen and their ilk.  Every notice how refreshing it is to meet someone totally without guile? That's what this release feels like. What keeps it from lapsing into a sugar coma is that it really feels like it wasn't done in a calculated way. The treated vocals get a little tiresome at times, (See Cher's “Do You Believe” as a point of reference. People will mistakenly call it auto-tune, but it's more of a vocoder type effect.) and the palette of sounds doesn’t wander too far from the synth/drum machine/loop foundation, occasionally guitars show up. A song like “Umbrella Beach” gets into dance club turf, somewhere between BT and Moby, at least those come to my mind. “Dental Care” makes bouncy fun of one of the more dreaded experiences in the human condition. I adore “Meteor Shower”, it introduces a slight hint of melancholy into the mix. It's all done without pretense, the music flows easily and it works rather well. Apparently the single “Fireflies” is known from an advertisement, or is it from a TV series or something? If you like that song you'll love the whole album.
 
I defy the most jaded of you, oh cynical reader, to manage avoid tapping your toes to at least of one of the songs. I highly recommend this album. Summer is on its way you know.
 
DA Arnold