ARTIST: The Exotic Aquatic
TITLE: Where I Used To Sleep
LABEL: Howland Sound
GENRE: Indie
BITRATE: 146kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 19m total
RELEASE DATE: 2008-00-00
RIP DATE: 2008-11-14
Track List
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1. Factory 3:40
2. Where Do We Go, Penelope 3:30
3. Shake 3:44
4. Singularity 2:21
5. Found Myself (Piano Song) 3:18
6. Hidden Track 2:49
Release Notes:
The Exotic Aquatic cross the line of garage rock and into avenues paved in street-folk, gypsy-punk, and acoustic-pop on their latest 5-track EP, Where I Used To Sleep. Fronted by lead singer-songwriter Jason Soroka whose light touches on the melodies are reminiscent of Tegan and Sara, The Exotic AquaticÆs songs are virtually monopolized by acoustically loomed guitar strums with grimacing locks liken to The Decemberists and pendulum phrasings that show sensibilities reflective of The Hold Steady. Joined by multi-instrumentalist Ryan Turner and pianist/painter Brian Pho, the band is continually changing as additional musicians come and go making The Exotic Aquatic as large as they want or as small as only its 3-core members.
The heavily shaded garage rock palette of ôFactoryö is infused with elements of street-folk, gypsy-punk, and acoustic-pop making it a hybrid mix. And although the track has modern vital signs, it sounds neck-deep in vintage rock cultures reminiscent of Bob Dylan and Rick DankoÆs æ60s song ôThis WheelÆs On Fire,ö which was made popular during that time from the version recorded by Julie Driscoll with Brian Augur and the Trinity. It is also the theme song to the popular æ90s British-TV show Absolutely Fabulous, which some fans may still remember. The Exotic Aquatic have undertones of this æ60s garage rock sound, and whether it is done intentionally or not is probably moot because it is a sound lodged in rock musicÆs psyche. In a time when the familiar palette of old rock murals give people a sense of comfort and a hook that latches onto nostalgia making them feel happy the way a good old movie does, The Exotic Aquatic are in touch with what is happening now and happening to themselves.
Their music is like comfort food for the hearing drawing from points of folk, pop, rock, and softcore pub-punk. The chorus-line drum kicks produce pumping beats with a garage rock trot along ôShakeö and arcs of lurching movements, while the folksy pop tendrils of ôPenelopeö and ôSingularityö are twined into a streetsy coiffure. The soft pendulum swing in the crushed acoustic guitar strums of ôFound Myselfö reach attractive levels of amplitude while the pearls of tiny squats and even keeled rolls through the hidden track ôThree Leftsö barely move off the ground traveling at a molasses pace.
Calling New Jersey home, The Exotic Aquatic never fall short of ideas in their tracks for Where I Used To Sleep. They bring in influences from different ports and channel them into their music creating a hybrid that has a hand in the past and another in the present. They keep some areas garagy sounding while others are heavily acoustic or boarded with a melodic smoothness. They are a band still in flux as far as being a solid unit, but the 3-core members hold it together rather nicely especially when some of their garage rock sound can draw comparisons to Dylan.