Deep Sea Arcade – Outlands

WHAT A PITY that Britpop, the most regrettable music genre outside of Autotuned r&b bollocks, appears to be undergoing something of a revival, and Aussie group Deep Sea Arcade, it seems, want to have standing room on the bandwagon.
Released o’er the sea way back in March, we’re finally seeing Outlands here on the back of its success in England. Yes, it seems you can sell coals to Newcastle as long as they’re very old coals.
Having started off on a rather negative note, however, I do need to point out that Deep Sea Arcade (poor choice of name, I reckon) also resonate with some of the echoing grace of ‘80s 4AD acts, and catch more than a few traces of ‘60s power pop and psychedelia.
The title track, for instance, conjures up the Moody Blues, and ‘Seen No Right’ is like a commercial take on what the alt-rock press call hypnagogic pop, a kind of warped, through-the-looking-glass, half-affectionately and half-darkly, appreciation of the more musty corners of pop culture. You know, early BBC-TV vs. psychedelic pop as imagined by a couple of Australian Gen-Y specimens.
Outlands has charm, but in sporadic bursts. For every rich vein of pop culture explored, they fall back into a jangly, thin-voiced Britpop hell, which makes it a pleasure/pain scenario for this reviewer. In balance, it’s just okay, with a few real bright spots. I’m just glad they’re more Charlatans than Oasis. GARY STEEL
Sound = 3/5
Music = 3/5