Nocean Beach has just released a debut self-titled album, full of passion, sunshine, and delightful pop-garage textures. Review.
NOCEAN BEACH – NOCEAN BEACH
Though it clocks in at just under twenty minutes, Nocean Beach‘s first album, self-titled, shows promising potential. The opening track, Who’s Heart, suggests a garage rock album with highly pronounced, slightly rough textures. And that’s somewhat accurate, but not entirely. This first track reveals some great ideas, but above all, a drive, a passionate fire, for her music, with a rather charming DIY vibe. Then comes Be My Neighbor! and the sound smooths out just a bit. Just enough to allow some pop elements to emerge, following the shifting atmospheres.
Next up is Accept Yourself, the standout track of the album. Catchy from its intro to the chorus, it carries strong influences from the 80s and 90s. The result is really cool! It’s followed by the equally charming and quite memorable Inadequasea, where the textures change once more. Nocean Beach explores a lot of questions through her tracks, but there is always an unshakable positivity in her introspections that captivates me. In Separate Signals, their vintage influences resurface, bringing a more disenchanted mood.
With I Freak Out, that introspective duality returns. The lyrics reflect panic, while the rhythm and melody turn it into something catchy and bright. Nocean Beach wraps up this first opus with New Dream. The punk influence comes through in the riffs, transporting us into the wave of her colourful surf-rock sound. The blend of genres is truly delightful. Sure, the form is not perfect for all the tracks, but it’s incredibly sincere! And passionate! And it’s for this reason, along with its textures and melodies, that Nocean Beach is a wonderful way to discover this promising artist.
