When I first heard The Calm Blue Sea I was left speechless and stunned and it was in the July of 2011. Now, almost a year after I don't seem to be any less speechless or stunned by this Texas band. It is thanks to NPR that I got the chance to hear them because of the weekly series on NPR Music called First Listen: Album Previews where they present some new records that get their release during the following week or so, and one of those records was a self-titled debut album by The Calm Blue Sea. This Austin, TX - based band's music can be vaguely described as post-rock, but in reality there is much more to it, and it doesn't get any clearer unless you listen to it yourself which I strongly recommend.
The Calm Blue Sea are Stephen Bidwell (drums), Chris Patin (guitar), Kyle Robarge, and Taylor Wilkins. The band originated in 2008, with the release of 6-track EP, but at that time nobody outside their hometown of Austin had heard about them. They came back last year with a full album featuring remastered songs from the EP and 2 brand new tracks released under Modern Outsider, an independent record label from Austin.
As far as their music style goes, some people compare The Calm Blue Sea to such bands as Explosions in the Sky or Mogwai. There is some similarity indeed, but in my opinion the sound of TCBL is the rawest and the most uncontrollable and this makes them so special. Their songs are known for being guitar-driven mostly instrumental epics with the pattern that goes like quiet-loud-louder-quiet in order to have its grand finale and burst out and end on a quiet note again. This is definitely the kind of music that is to be listened to at full volume.
The band is even better live, from what I can say watching videos. I hope to see them someday, and apparently it doesn't seem so faraway, as I have heard that they are going to tour Europe this year and Poland may be included in their gig schedule. In a couple of days, on March 14, they are playing South by Southwest festival in Austin, TX.
Below, you can watch 2 clips. The first one is a studio version of "We Happy Few" and the other one is a live version of "Literal". You can listen to the entire album for free at the Calm Blue Sea official website
