Chicago natives Oceans offer up nine tracks with sixty minutes worth of music on their debut effort. The five-piece maintain a post-rock inspired craft throughout the bulk of the full-length but also find ways of incorporating mid-90's emo and post-hardcore sounds into their songs.
Nothing Collapses begins with "Lit Up Under Streetlights" and you get eight minutes of light-footed post-rock that leans towards the more playful tones as opposed to down-tempo style the genre often sees. The group makes use of the guitar techniques you've come to expect from pros of the genre - Explosions in the Sky, etc. Where the band helps to distinguish themselves is with the faint influences of the mid-90's Midwestern emo scene in their sound.
"We are Ruins" follows and it features a slightly more aggressive direction with movements of heavier riffing interspersed with their standard guitar noodling. "Ways with Wolves" boasts some interesting guitar and rhythm interplay that brings to mind Minus the Bear. "Boy Detective" interjects more of this guitar work in its structure as well. This song also features some vocal parts, which is a bit odd for a band of this genre. They caught me a little off guard but worked, especially when backed with the more actionated music at the end of the song.
It's here that we hit a lull. The next three tracks just kind of passed me by, not leaving a mark on my memory. "Traps and Traps" saves the record from being ejected with an outstanding second half. Closer "Your Plane Leaves Tomorrow" closes at an epically long ten minutes. Thankfully, it is Ocean's best constructed piece of music, so you get to enjoy every second. I found myself restarting the final four minutes over and over as they were especially noteworthy with the inclusion of the violin, something I hope they experiment with more in the future.
Nothing Collapses is a good start for the group; there is a lot of promise in what they're doing. I enjoyed the relaxing mood of the album but also found myself losing attention with the action as I listened. I think with a bit more time together the songwriting will get better and more intense, resulting in a more advanced end product.
