Ozean Self-Titled CDEP RE (2024)

Details: Ozean Self-Titled Digipak CDEP Reissue (Numero Group, 2024). New stock, sealed.

Description: "Drown in a sea of distorted bliss from the First Wave of American Shoegaze."

"Ozean didn't last long, and it's hard not to wonder what might have happened if they'd broken through. The band began to formulate in 1991, when drummer and bassist Mike Baldwin handed a flyer to Eric Shea at a RIDE/Lush show in California. They were looking for a guitarist and a singer who were into bands like Slowdive and Cocteau Twins, and after answering the call, Shea ended up at Mike Prosenko's home studio, where they started to lay down their sound. The final piece was a vocalist, so Prosenko approached Lisa Baer when she was DJing at a local San Jose club - she loved Latin Jazz and Jesus and Mary Chain, and although she'd never sung before, the music just worked. 

Sadly, after rehearsing and home recording for a year, playing just one live show and visiting a studio to record this brief demo, Ozean disbanded. The EP reached Alan McGee at Creation, via Slowdive, but the band had already moved on. They released the tape privately in '93, and for years it was thought the masters had been lost until 2017, when Ozean showed up on Bandcamp. Hearing it now, it's remarkably on point - Ozean were clearly listening carefully to their source material. Shoegaze never had a proper go of it in the US, quickly eclipsed by grunge, but smudgy, ethereal cross-breed of early Cocteaus and Slowdive is effortlessly endearing."

Grade: M (new stock)

TRACK LISTING:

01. Scenic
02. Fall
03. Porcelain