The Boxer Rebellion - Ocean by Ocean

The Boxer Rebellion
Ocean by Ocean
2016
Spotify

Early U2, the first Athlete album and twinges of Coldplay are all apt descriptions of The Boxer Rebellion, who for some reason have not found mainstream success. All of the elements are there, stadium filling anthems, pulsing drums and songs tailor-made to make you feel and keep you singing along, but for some reason they just have not connected. The Boxer Rebellion on Ocean by Ocean never linger on one thing for to long, letting the song hit you then quickly fade away never allowing you to dig to deep or hold on to one particular piece to much. The album is also incredibly pretty. It twinkles and is always super bright allowing for the darker themes on the record to really shine without being watered down. "Big Ideas" seems to really bring into focus the direction of the band. They have these big ideas and want to bring them to the masses, the rub comes when you discover if anyone is actually listening. "Keep Me Close" however is the real standout. It is minimal without being barren, rich without being over powering. This is one of those songs that when you hear it you want to put your hands in the air and let it just wash over you, whatever that may be.

It is not all perfection on the album however as their sound tends to side on the one note. What you are hearing is very well done, but is missing some kind of edge or some kind of stake that would make the music a little dangerous. They are so good at what they do, that doing the same thing just feels beneath them.The times the band does take some risks (and it is a very light risk) like on "The Fog I Was Lost In" the results are not the best, because they are always keeping one foot outside seemingly scared to dive head in. However you can't help but get enraptured into this music. It blows around up and circles you up always looking towards something bigger or greater. That sense of striving is there, reaching out for something new, but it gets a bit jumbled up when the band plays it safe. With The Boxer Rebellion you feel like you should like all this more, that there is a wealth of music just sitting under the surface, and there actually is in terms of their four previous albums. For now however The Boxer Rebellion will keep having to make great music until someone finally realizes what they are missing. Don't miss out on The Boxer Rebellion or Ocean by Ocean, if you are reading this it is probably already to late.

8.1 out of 10