The Ocean Blue debuted on record in the waning moments of the 1980s, and it’s a safe bet that anyone who tuned in to college radio or lounged on a couch on a Sunday night for MTV’s 120 Minutes is familiar with the band’s early singles, if not their full-length albums. After three for Sire and one for Mercury, the band self-released Davy Jones’ Locker in a small pressing in 1999; it received a couple CD reissues shortly after, but the disc has finally gotten its first vinyl press courtesy of Korda Records. Often jangling and occasionally dreamy, the LP’s 13 cuts are a solid dose of mature indie pop with range.
Four albums in, and with a fifth on deck, but you’re left without a label; that’s the sort of scenario where many bands just elect to call it quits. Now some will snidely quip “just Do It Yourself,” but as detailed above, The Ocean Blue hit the scene under the auspices of Sire, one of the biggest Alternative-friendly labels then operating. Self-releasing after working exclusively with majors isn’t an easy transition.
But The Ocean Blue did go the D.I.Y. route with Davy Jones’ Locker, and to unsurprisingly smaller (way smaller) sales figures than the band’s three for Sire (The Ocean Blue, ’89, Cerulean, ’91, Beneath the Rhythm and Sound, ’93) and one for Mercury (See the Ocean Blue, ’96). In 2001 Davy was given a fresh run of CDs by March Records in the US and P-Vine in Japan, but that’s been it until this vinyl edition by Korda Records, a cooperative label run in part by The Ocean Blue that’s issued the band’s subsequent albums (Ultramarine, ’13, expanded EP Waterworks, ’14, Kings and Queens / Knaves and Thieves, ’19).
Listening to Davy Jones’ Locker in 2023 (I’ll confess to missing out on it in ’99), it’s understandable why it’s getting a reissue; it’s tunes are bright, energetic and smart, starting right away with the jangle-strummer “Ayn.” The Ocean Blue hailed from Pennsylvania, but there’s more than a hint of Hoboken classique in “Ayn” and elsewhere on the LP.
Some of the Jersey feel extends into “Garden Song,” but there’s also a Brit indie pop atmosphere, which is no shocker given how often the band has been compared to The Smiths. But the niftiest aspect of “Garden Song” is the toughness of the electric guitar strum in contrast to perkiness of the vocal “bah-dah-dahs.”
But “Denmark,” while still tapping into Brit precedent, it moodier (in that ’80s Alt-chart/college radio way) and a little dreamier. “My Best Friend” is a major gear shift, dominated with acoustic strum at the start, but with some big electric power pop riffs to follow, presenting another sharp contrast with the downtrodden vibe of the vocals, which conjure images of beat-up cardigans, moleskine notebooks, and cups of Earl Grey tea. There’s also a brief rocking out passage that made me think of Sean Lennon’s Into the Sun, and that’s pretty jake.
The short instrumental “Cukaloris” sounds like it could’ve been the B-side to some band’s sole 7-inch, released by Cherry Red in ’87. That’s cool. So is “Been Down a Lot Lately,” where ’60s derived chime pop gets blended with ’80s-’90s lushness to strong effect. And “Consolation Prize” does something similar, injecting some fuzz guitar into an indie jangle situation, with vocals that are quite Anglo.
“Cake” returns to ’80s Hoboken but with singing that’s mildly Morrissey-esque, and then “Bottle Yours” sounds like it could’ve been an NME Single of the Week circa the mid-’80s, complete with a cool shimmering guitar solo. From there, “I Can’t See You” injects some hard strumming into a La’s-like zone, and then “So Many Reasons” bursts out of the gate with roaring amps amid a sunshiny ’60s pop sensibility.
In the home stretch, “Do You Still Remember Me?” is indie pop splendor, and “It Never, Just Might” closes the album strong with an appealing layered structure and atypical lyrics. Davy Jones’ Locker’s cumulative effect is of a small indie pop gem that’s just waiting to be discovered by folks who aren’t already avowed fans of The Ocean Blue.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
