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Oceans Will Rise

by

The Stills

 
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Oceans Will Rise
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Avg: 4.0 (199 ratings)

An improvement on their last, but the Stills' best days are still ahead.

  • We Say...

    Review by Peter Parrish

    Which Stills have we got this time? The exciting chaps from Logic Will Break Your Heart or the trundling MOR balladeers who showed up for Without Feathers?

    Fortunately, the onyx sheen of Oceans Will Rise makes it clear that the Echo & the Bunnymen spectre that haunted the group's debut is back. In fact, it's the tracks casting a nod towards other fine moments in '80s art-gloom — the Comsat Angels, the Sound etc. — that are the most rewarding. Crucially, these are also the songs on which a few risks have been taken — injecting enough uncertainty and flair to ensure they don't come off like soft facsimiles. "Rooibos/Palm Wine Drunkard" stands out; balancing updated spaghetti-western riffs and flurries of distortion with a gentle keyboard coda. And in terms of sheer portentous unease, the dry-gulch rattle and rhythm of "Snakecharming the Masses" takes the prize.

    At times, the production becomes intrusive. Single "Being Here" suffers from overly slick edges, as well as the kind of ultra-safe, anthemic chorus now rendered lifeless by serial overuse. "I'm With You," however, shows that a more expansive sound can be successfully tamed. Despite more than a hint of U2, it's a sweeter, subtler affirmation of commitment than its cynically soaring counterpart.

    On Oceans Will Rise, the Stills have found polish and renewed swagger, but the cost is a more conservative approach than their debut. A step up from Without Feathers, but a few more surprises could have yielded much more.

  • They Say...

    Review by Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide

    The commercial highlight of the Stills' third album is "Being Here," an uplifting piece of U2-inspired rock that finds a compromise between the band's post-rock beginnings and the dusty Technicolor strains of Without Feathers. Tim Fletcher's vocals are the stuff of stadium rock shows -- all high notes, reverb, and crackling passion -- and guitarist Dave Hamelin plays descending riffs like the Edge's hipster doppelganger. Nothing else on Oceans Will Rise matches that sort of grandeur, but the band still sounds energized and confident throughout these 12 tracks. Appropriately, this is the first time the Stills have returned with their lineup intact -- co-founder Greg Paquet quit in 2005 to finish college, drummer Julien Blais and keyboardist Liam O'Neil joined the group soon after, and former drummer Dave Hamelin took up Paquet's vacant spot on lead guitar. Coupled with a natural desire to push the envelope, the new version of the Stills took a different approach to 2006's Without Feathers, but they didn't seem at home -- quite possibly because they'd already been pigeonholed as disciples of Joy Division, a band that shared few similarities with the Stills' new sound. Without Feathers was a conscious move away from that style, from the congested genre that had labeled the Stills a New York band despite their Canadian citizenship. The flaw wasn't in the songwriting itself, but in the band's inability to form a tight enough unit to deliver such an unexpected album. It's with relief, then, that the Stills pull themselves together for Oceans Will Rise. Like Without Feathers, the album explores a continent's worth of new territory, but it does so with brash confidence and a subtle "screw you" attitude. The bandmates don't bat an eyelash when they throw a disjointed bridge into the middle of "Being Here," only to launch back into the song's accessible hook 20 seconds later. "Panic" features a similar moment; before the tune concludes with chiming guitar arpeggios and thick harmonies, the band launches into a heavy metal onslaught for four quick measures. Perhaps the Stills' strongest asset is knowing when to say when, and Oceans Will Rise also features a number of well-crafted songs that don't feature such unanticipated turns. "Snow in California" tackles climate change with lush, electro-shoegaze atmospherics, while the eerie, percussive "Snakecharming the Masses" -- perhaps the best tune the Music never wrote -- explores the band's lingering dark side. Oceans Will Rise is a return to form for the Stills, who've earned their merit as an experimental group with a strong knack for pop/rock hooks.

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