THE FUCKING OCEAN
Hemlock Tavern
August 28, 2007

The Fucking Ocean are back! And they tore it up at the Hemlock. On this particular night they played with several guest musicians from bands like Black Eyes, Fierce Antlers and The Pickup Pattern.

I haven’t seen these guys in years, and that night there were about ten more people playing with the three original members: Marcela, Matt, and Elias. The songs were still raw and had the same punk, mathy, dancy style, while the multiple vocalists shouting out the lyrics that night added even more power to every song.

Lest you be misled by my description, let me state that The Fucking Ocean is not just another dance punk band. They’re more of an unpredictable noise punk band in the vein of Fugazi and Gang of Four. This show was especially intriguing as all of the different musicians who came up for each song had their own unique stage presence. The ex-Black Eyes member, for instance, sang with one arm behind his back and aggressively bobbed his head to the beat. It was captivating.

Somewhere in the middle of the set, Matt took a moment to tell the audience something about September and protesting in front of Nancy Pelosi’s house in order to tell politicians to stop funding the war. So I’ll do my part: STOP FUNDING THE WAR!!!

But I digress.

One thing I love about The Fucking Ocean is that they’re always full of surprises, and their Hemlock show was no exception. Aside from all of the guest performers, the very last song they played was completely different from all of their other songs: It was much more melodic and featured a New Order-sounding guitar solo, neatly demonstrating the range and musicianship of the band.

[Alvin Chan]

[STREAM]  The Fucking Ocean:  Various Tracks