The Ocean Rolls In

If you like indie pop, raise your hand. Is your hand raised? Okay, read on then, because I'm going to talk about a pleasant band otherwise known as The Little Ones. As I'm sure many of you know, record labels can be a tricky bunch. What gets your band signed, or not signed, or dropped from the label can be a mystery sometimes, though more often than not economics plays a large factor. Just look at Capitol Records and what happened with their indie roster because of budget concerns. The Little Ones have experienced similar label drama, what with getting signed to Astralwerks and releasing the "Sing Song" EP in 2006, followed by their subsequent dropping. Don't ask me why Astralwerks dropped them- I don't have an official answer for you. What I can tell you is that The Little Ones got plenty of buzz for that "Sing Song" EP (though the subsequent "Terry Tales and Fallen Gates" EP didn't get as much notice) and plenty of people were salivating with anticipation for the full length record. After a slight delay due to label wrangling, the band is now on Chop Shop Records (a subsidiary of Atlantic), which has now released The Little Ones' "Morning Tide."

It's clear from the start that The Little Ones know how to write a pop song. Sunshine, vocal harmonies and handclaps are part of the territory, and the band does them with style and in spades. This is the sort of music that's perfect for a warm summer day, which is unfortunate considering that in October there aren't really any left unless you live in the Southern U.S. or any other area relatively close to the Equator. The ill timing of this release can be forgiven what with the label drama, but your best bet in experiencing this record is to get it and play it non-stop these next few weeks when some relative warmth still remains (if that's the case, those of us who actually get lots of snow during the winter). You're also going to want to familiarize yourself with most of these songs, as you can probably expect them to be used as background music on some of your favorite TV shows. Though I don't watch it, you can probably expect to hear a Little Ones song in "Grey's Anatomy" before the season ends in May. Good for the band. They deserve that sort of success, at the very least.

My main objections to "Morning Tide" stem from overall blandness. The Little Ones take no risks here. As such, there's very little to distinguish their songs from, say, The Spinto Band or Nada Surf or The Shins or The New Pornographers or even in some respects Coldplay. You listen through the album and recognize the songs as fun and delightful and inoffensive, but when given a blind listening test I'm not going to pick out a Little Ones song amid their counterparts. What the band really needs is some sense of innovation or at the very least something, be it big or small, to help separate themselves from their previously established peers. As a newer band trying to make friends in high places, they're not going to get noticed by a whole lot of people in this genre that's already overstuffed as it is. But as I've already mentioned, television show producers are always looking for some lighthearted indie pop to put into their show, and The Little Ones fit the bill perfectly. It's just tragic to me that they're not going to do much past that with this album. I do like this band though, because it's difficult not to. My wish for them is to sell enough records to ensure another one on their current label, at which point they'll hopefully make a follow-up album that'll put most of their indie pop cohorts to shame. The talent is most certainly there, it's now up to them to make a sophmore effort truly worth hearing.

The Little Ones- Gregory's Chant

Buy "Morning Tide" from Amazon
Buy "Morning Tide" from iTunes

Labels: the little ones