Dublin’s Stone Ocean are unmistakably, 100%, no-doubt-about-it, alt rock. Much in the way that Queens Of The Stone Age are, and there’s no other words to describe them so accurately. But while QOTSA sound like nothing but their distinctive selves (and praise the lord for that), Stone Ocean’s debut album for New York’s Ghost Train Records embraces every aspect of alt rock, from the carefully controlled explosions of noise a la Biffy Clyro (‘The Save Song’) to the Stereophonics sounding ‘Time And The Money’, the latter comparison made inevitable by frontman Karac Kennedy sharing Kelly Jones’ smoky style of singing. Props to them for not being afraid to venture in and out of these different territories; this is indeed a confident debut with the musicianship of a band who want to have fun just as much as they mean business.
While they’re not plagued by this debut-destroying disease of sameness that afflicts plenty of new acts, their weaknesses originate from something much more intrinsic: the songwriting. Essentially, they fail to deliver compelling reasons to keep listening – bar a couple of stand-out tracks like ‘Falling Out’ and the intense ‘Rival Crush’, which could very well have been lifted from Muse’s Showbiz. The others, though, fade into the background. ‘Poem’ tries desperately to finish the album with an epic flourish, but ends up anti-climactic as the listener hangs around for a killer hook which never comes. You can almost hear them in the studio, discussing intricate arrangements, which instruments they should use where, but forgetting to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
Still, as they develop there’s no doubt that their songs will too, and I’ll be first in the queue for their follow-up.