Fluorescent lights, the smell of lager-breath and sweat dripping down the walls. This dingy basement bar in Hoxton provides the perfect setting for Brentwood-based four-piece Ocean Flaws. Tonight the band are headlining the quarterfinals of Isle of Wight’s New Blood competition – they are clear stand-outs.
They waste no time, kicking things off with their latest single ‘Pray to the Satellite’ which was released two weeks ago. It reverberates throughout the venue with a weird, almost cosmic buzz.
That’s Ocean Flaws’ bag though. A sound which is largely standard indie-cum-alt rock but with elements of psychedelia and electro that creep in through the gaps inverses. You can hear influences from the likes of the Maccabees and The Verve, as well as some of the heavier stuff recently produced by Foals.
Their cosmic rock effect is produced by guitarist/ keyboard player Sean Heaney, who stands out for the intensity with which he plays – always something to be appreciated live.
Laid over the top are vocals from charismatic frontman Callum Quirk (already a great rockstar name) which are delivered in a Gallagher-esque drone. It’s rough, but not harsh and fits the music style well.
Quirk is backed up vocally by Olivia Russell, though this is a partnership that doesn’t really come off. Some of the harmonies are a little bit out and Russell’s own robust voice often becomes too overpowering. While it may simply be a case of adjusting the mic levels, the band may want to reassess whether or not this is an element that is really necessary.
Otherwise, the band is musically very tight. This confidence allows them to have fun with the crowd and each other, while still delivering a solid performance. The onstage chemistry is something that is particularly nice to see and makes you warm to them even more so. Just a group of mates having a laugh and playing some cool tunes.
The audience lap it up. You can tell who the hard-core fans are – the ones who already know the words to the latest EP tracks – but everyone is on board, producing the best reactions of the night. At one point Quirk runs into the audience to sing with the crowd. He might not be big-name rockstar just yet, but why the hell shouldn’t he get to act like one?
Unsurprisingly, Ocean Flaws sail cleanly through to the semi-finals – location TBC. Hopefully, the show in Hoxton is a sign of big things to come for the band. It’s the kind of intimate venue where once upon a time Alex Turner told his audience not to “believe the ‘ype” about the Arctic Monkeys. And we know what happened after that…
