The Year Zero - Oceania I Will Return
0 Comments Published by Tom on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 at 13:40.
When I heard the three track preview EP for this album earlier this year I wondered if the excellent Skipping Stones label had made their first mistake. The songs it contained sounded lost, disorganised and sounded somewhat out of shape. Sadly placing the songs in the context of a full album still doesn't help as there is something about this album that just isn't right. The music is somewhat delicate and that could well be the album's downfall as it tries too hard to define itself in any sort of way. The futuristic sci-fi artwork, which in itself generates prejudice on how the album may sound, is a stark contrast against the comparisons given to them by the label such as My Bloody Valentine, The Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance amongst others. The sci-fi theme continues with the lyrics about a post apocalyptic world and other such things which Half Man Half Biscuit once warned us about!
And the tracks? Lili De Le More's fragile and ethereal vocals stand out from the primarily synth based music but with the tracks blending into each other it's hard to pick out a definitive one and the twelve songs finish at just over 38 minutes. The only identifiable tracks are where Rodney Sellars takes over on vocal duties without anything being brought to the party.
It's not the greatest album I have ever heard and to be honest there are many better efforts out there that are more worthy of your pennies. However if you fancy some ambient indie to chill out too then The Year Zero could well be up your street. Sadly not on the one which I live. (4/10)
You can stream tracks from the album on the bands My Space page.
Buy Oceania I Will Return by The Year Zero
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