THE OCEAN ARE IN THE STUDIO. TOO SOON TO START ASSEMBLING THOSE “BEST OF 2010” LISTS?

I’ve always found the changing of bands’ MySpace names to be an amusing but effective way of communicating a simple bit of news. For example:

• “LAKE BUKKAKE (ON TOUR NOW!!!)”
• “ANAL CHAINSAW (NEW ALBUM OUT THIS TUESDAY!!!)”

Exclamation points necessarily included.

So it with great excitement and wonder that MS Maniac Mark Moritz-Rabson noticed a recent change in the MySpace moniker of German awesome-core collective The Ocean: “THE OCEAN (in the studio)”. No exclamation points needed because The Ocean are way too cool for such shenanigans.

2007’s year-end release Precambrian quite literally blew our minds when it came out, as did their incredibly powerful live show in NYC mid-2008 (at which we interviewed guitarist and band mastermind Robin Staps). Metal Blade re-released the band’s 2004 effort Fluxion earlier this year, a decision which at least in the case of this writer served its purpose of educating new Ocean fans on what they might’ve missed in the past. But at least for U.S. fans it’s been pretty quiet on The Ocean shorefront (ha) and a new album would really hit the spot for early or mid 2010.

Of course, “in the studio” is no simple undertaking for The Ocean; Precambrian was an ambitious two-disc affair which included the performance of a real, live symphony. And it was all flawlessly executed. If not for my ignorance of Precambrian until January 2008, it certainly would’ve ended up in my 2007 Top Ten list. Staps is a meticulous master composer, and I’d expect nothing less than an ambitious, nuanced follow-up.

So, in conclusion: get those bongs ready.

-VN