Info

LOST AT SEA
Asian Man Records - 2008

Track Listing
1. Lost At Sea
2. My Own Time
3. Train Wreck
4. In Demand
5. Danska
6. This Life
7. Walking On Coals
8. Hot Lunch
9. Chemical Nation
10. Scallywag

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ALBUM REVIEWS
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PRESSURE DROP SOUNDCAST - Gabe Paredes (Arcata, CA)

Lost At Sea which boasts trumpet playing by Hepcat’s Kincaid Smith and some cooler than cool album art by Yo Gabba Gabba creator Parker Jacobs. With all the excitement leading to it’s release I was anxious to see what these guys had up their sleeves this time, especially since it seemed that their sound was progressing towards something new in recent years.

So, there it arrived in my mailbox, I ripped that puppy open and rays of light shined down from above and water poured out of the package with a lobster flopping on the ground, a sponge with square pants, and a pink starfish! I shook the seaweed from my forearm and ran inside to play this thing.

Look at that artwork, so much more cooler in hand than on my computer screen and man does that smell of freshly printed whatever it is smells good!
“Lost At Sea” is fittingly the first track and the sound of the ocean, the breeze, and seagulls hits, ahh refreshing. I’m still in a daze with the color gleaming from the cover art and I’m staring inside at all the lyrics following along, and checking out who wrote the tunes. Lost At Sea seems to be a metaphor encompassing the whole album. Each song dealing with the things going on in the world today and how people seem to be lost in this sea of uncertainty.

Curtis takes a stab at writing a Toots and The Maytals like tune with “Walking On Coals” where he sings about hot footin’ through life’s obstacles. How is this like a Toots song? The lyrics are exactly seven sentences and 45 words long, easy to remember and sing along to! Then he get’s all soulful and heartfelt like on “This Life”. It starts off like a slow smoky RnB tune and builds up to a great energetic tune, one of my personal favorites.

Don’t worry it’s not a bunch of songs that sounds like drunken sailors or pirates singing in unison or anything. The album is actually pretty well rounded. Some nice instrumentals like “Trainwreck” with that funky guitar and hot horn lines complemented by some spicy keys bring attention to Monkey’s skills. It starts all funky like and goes into this sweet reggae groove that comes outta nowhere and just blew me away. A nice ska instrumental comes by way of “Danska”, an easy grooving number that will make you move involuntary. That’s a good thing right? At the end of this song they do this crazy upbeat getting down in church like shuffle that I wish they would have expanded on as it only lasts about six seconds and fades out!

With only ten songs to savor, this thing is sure not lacking in flavor. Each songs sounds like two or three different songs with great transitions and overlapping musical elements that will keep you going back for more. Varied styles and and current subject matter we can all relate to.
If we’re all lost at sea these days anyway why not get lost in this new album?

Note: I swear that ocean lining the bottom of the inside cover is moving along with that fish!