The Calm Blue Sea - The Calm Blue Sea (2008)

When a band creates a new sound and goes from the underground to the mainstream, they usually become influential. Bands that look up to these influential artists desire to sound just like them. Many times, in genres such as post-rock, we see exact replicas of the originals. A wide array of bands are influenced by an already perfected sound, leaving them little room to be creative or better this sound. Many post-rock artists create music that is very similar to how post-rock sounded 15 years ago, with little alteration. Then there is The Calm Blue Sea, who build upon their influences but differentiate themselves from typical post-rock by adding a unique twist to their music.

Hailing from Austin, Texas, The Calm Blue Sea utilizes a very similar song structure as fellow Texans Explosions in the Sky, but develop much heavier tones and a fuller and warmer sound. Their debut album The Calm Blue Sea opens with the track 'We Happy Few', which uses arpeggios and lead guitar that builds up layers so well, that you can actually feel the emotion in this song and not just hear it. The name of the song is perfect because anyone that listens to it is sure to develop a happy mood, no matter their mood before. 'Literal' follows the quiet to loud technique that post-rock is known for, but has a more cinematic feel. Piano and low-volume guitar consumes the first half of the track followed by feedback and layers of distortion that sounds like an earthquake. This track goes from the most beautiful sounding post-rock to the most violent sounding post-rock within minutes. The final track 'This Will Never Happen Again' opens with a fuzzy audio sample, arpeggios, and bass layers, followed by epic distortion that reminds me of Pelican and Isis.

Although The Calm Blue Sea uses the post-rock standard of quiet to loud, they are far beyond other bands using this technique. Their music could almost be deemed film-score worthy. The Calm Blue Sea were never at a crossroads when it came to writing music, because they knew from day one that they didn't want to be another Explosions in the Sky or Mogwai. They differentiated themselves from the other bands and created similar music using their own formula. The Calm Blue Sea is a phenomenal debut album from a fairly new band, so if they are already up there with the post-rock legends, they are bound to become legends themselves with their next release.

Check out the opening track 'We Happy Few' from The Calm Blue Sea - The Calm Blue Sea: