The Ocean Blue

Band from Hershey Pennsylvania that for a short time was the darlings of the 120 minutes fame of MTV and alternative radio, back when alternative radio was that and not the watered down modern rock it is today. They sounded more of a cross of Echo & The Bunnymen (but only more melodic), The Smiths (without the Morrissey whine to go with Johnny Marr's cheese) and Psychedelic Furs around Talk Talk Talk. And a bit of Roxy Music Manifesto too.

All their albums, you may not remember unless you hear the songs, but when you do hear the songs you will find that they do sound pretty good twenty years beyond the fact. While some perfer the debut and Cerulean which is their Smith's tribute, I like the 1993 Beneath The Rhythm & Sound which gave them Crash, which aired a few times on MTV 120 Minutes before MTV decided to go reality TV and gave up on music.

Steve Lau left and the last two recordings showed more of a rock and less polished sound. The Ocean Blue moved from Sire/Reprise to Mercury for See The Ocean Blue, but before anything good happened Polygram got swallowed up by Universal and the band was set free again. Davy Jones Locker was reissued in 2001 on a independent label and it was more stripped down but it was a better listen.

Since then, there has been an EP to which I yet to hear and their website continues to say that the guys are working on their next album. Nevertheless, you can find their albums in the budget or clearance bins at thrift stores. They did work their influences quite well and all of their albums are worthwhile. I've heard they were excellent playing live.

Albums
The Ocean Blue 1990 B+
Cerulean 1991 B+
Beneath The Rhythm & Sound 1993 B+
See The Ocean Blue 1996 B+
Davy Jones Locker 2001 A-