Calling An Audioble: Deep Sea Arcade

(Photo via blog.rdio.com)

I (ab)use my fave subscription streaming service on the daily. Every Tuesday is a treat since I add a ton of new audioble candidates, searching for a diamond in the rough. There haven't been any exciting major releases up to date (the new Van Halen included), but I was able to find a few fun albums like those by Dirty Ghosts and A Place To Bury Strangers. Along comes Deep Sea Arcade and my search is temporarily put on hold. I've had their first full length album "Outlands" on repeat for the last week and it's not getting tired.

DSA are from Sydney, Australia, and consist of 5 members: Nic McKenzie, Nick Weaver, Tim Chamberlain,Simon Relf and Carlos Adura. McKenzie and Weaver are the founding members who later recruited the rest of the band after they wrote a substantial catalog when they were in high school. Their big break came thanks to a contest, when they submitted a song called "Crouch End". Their winning tune allowed them to play the Homebake Festival in 2008. Reminds me of a similar path that a certain young band called Silverchair (also from Australia...radio contest) took on their way to fame. They've toured with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, The Charlatans and Modest Mouse to name a few.

As soon as I listened to the first cut, which has the same name as the album, I was intrigued by the amazing melodies and very catchy hook. Simple elements of songs make me a happy consumer. In "Outlands" case, the bass and the kick are so on point. The bass in perfect sync with every beat from that kick is sweet. DSA reminds me of a mix of different sounds from a few bands: the popsensibilities of the Beatles psychedelic era, the feel of late 60s pop rock acts like The Turtles and The Zombies, and a tamer Tame Impala. It's a great mix of texture and grooves that will make you regret not jumping on this sooner.

(Photo via theaureview.com)

My only regret after hearing the entire album? Not having seen them live yet. It doesn't look like they have North America on the radar right now since they're busy touring the land down under (with the Kaiser Chiefs). So I'll wait patiently and keep listening to my favourite album of 2012 (so far).

P&B Approved Cuts:

- Outlands
- Girls
- Granite City
- Together
- The Devil Won't Take You

-Paqman