20 Feb 2019

A Closer Listen to WRAITH by Teeth of the Sea


They say:

Ten years have passed since Orphaned by the Ocean, and Teeth of the Sea is still going strong.  (Having formed in 2006, the band is now a teenager ~ look out, world!). So why don’t the musicians look happy?  It’s partially due to the spectral presence felt throughout the recording of what would become their fifth album proper.  Whether reality or fiction, the haunting persists throughout the set, starting with disjointed voices in the opening track and continuing through the final bells.


Teeth of the Sea is self-defined as a psychedelic rock band, but the truth is a bit more elusive.  In their early years, the band leaned more to the side of post-rock, while in the middle period (2013’s MASTER), the synths took control.  The band’s consistency is in its signature sounds, its variations in the amount used.  Trumpet has always been the primary distinguishing factor, followed by electronic beats and a combo of guitar and synth.  If TotS were a wine, one might detect hints of ambient, industrial and even screamo (thankfully dropped here, but present on 2015’s Highly Deadly Black Tarantula).  Presentation is important, as vinyl collectors will attest, the releases each sporting a different shade ~ orange, magenta, white, teal and now fluorescent green ~ each enhanced by the sporty Rocket Recordings label...

Read the full right-up here: A Closer Listen

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