EP Review: Crooked Mountain, Crooked Sea - I Watched It From The Roadside

on Friday, August 20, 2010
Words: Simon Opie

Crooked Mountain, Crooked Sea – 'I Watched It From The Roadside' EP



Crooked Mountain, Crooked Sea hail from Brighton and a music scene that has consistently produced great bands from The Levellers and Clearlake to The Kooks and Brakes. So they have a lot to live up to. 'I Watched It From the Roadside' is the band's new EP and has already attracted some deservedly good reviews. Whilst it’s clear that the Crooked Mountain, Crooked Sea sound is still developing, the foundation - which reminds me of And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead... - is hook-laden storytelling overlaid with an alt-rock sensibility.

They’ve also been compared to At The Drive-In, but what impresses most is when they explore their own ideas without really sounding that much like anyone else. In that respect 'They Dont Mean' is my least favourite track, since it sounds the most like some other generic band. The most interesting tracks – 'That Drums Discordant Sound' and 'Time And Place' work best for me by giving space to a quite compelling musical vision, and I would have been happy for them to extend well beyond the three minutes and a bit they currently occupy. That said, Crooked Mountain, Crooked Sea are definitely a band with the potential of a bright future and 'I Watched It From the Roadside' is a strong statement of intent.


'I Watched It From The Roadside' was released this week on Smalltown America.

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