We are the Ocean

Genre (according to Wikipedia): Post-hardcore, alternative rock

Screamo bands. They are the marmite of music. Approximately 7 out of every 10 people who are asked for their opinions of hardcore bands will immediately go off on rants, using the words ‘not music, just noise’, ‘horrible’, and asking ‘how do you listen to that?’ They may even be so kind as to do an impression of what it sounds like to them, in the hopes that you will immediately be persuaded to their point of view. Yes, it would appear that screamo is a truly acquired taste.

Enter We Are The Ocean,  a band from London and Essex, who have succeeded in one of the most difficult of tasks-taking this controversial genre of music and dressing it up as something with more universal appeal and musical complexity, without losing ANY of the power and emotion that gets screamo its fanbase. Formed of Dan Brown on screaming vocals, Liam Cromby on rhythm guitar and melodic vocals, Jack Spence on bass, Alfie Scully on lead guitar, and Tom Whittaker on drums, this, in my humble opinion, is the band that is the future of hardcore music.

Like My Passion in my previous article, We Are The Ocean has enjoyed some success already, doing hundreds of shows in only three years, and supporting big names like Lostprophets, You Me At Six, The Used, The Blackout, and Underoath. They have released two EPs and in 2010 released their debut album Cutting Our Teeth, which, despite receiving very positive reviews (9 out of 10 stars from Rock Sound), only got to #143 in the UK album charts. So this is another band that despite their huge potential and innovation, seems to be going unnoticed by members of the public (despite my best efforts, I have not yet met anyone else who has heard of them). A shame, since these guys really do have what it takes to be unbelievably big.

Firstly, I will admit that as screamo bands go, this is fairly light. No pig squeals or death growls here. And while this may cause the die hard Goths and metalheads amongst you to immediately lose interest, it is this fact that gives We Are The Ocean their appeal, certainly to me. Most hardcore bands are content with slashing furiously at their guitars, playing one note in time to the drums, while headbanging with their legs an impossible width apart (cough Attack Attack cough).  However, to distract you from how unbelievably basic the music is, the singer will be shrieking his head off, totally unintelligibly, making himself sound as little like a human as possible. And good for them. We Are The Ocean, however, changes the formula, and rather than mounting an aggressive attack on your hears, uses complex lead guitar parts and some truly fantastic drumming, to give the song the musical power it needs to ensure you won’t cover your ears when the screaming starts. Though you shouldn’t because Dan Brown’s vocal style breathes new life into the genre. He delivers his vocals with tremendous power and feeling, to the extent that rather than ruin the song, you start to find yourself thinking that the songs could actually not do without it. He even manages, on the album, to do something different from traditional vocalists. Now, I don’t know whether it is simply because he lost his voice, but on the album he abandons traditional screams and adopts a more ‘gruff football chant’ style, which looks crap on paper, but actually works brilliantly. It also gives each of their songs a sense of variety and individuality-dedicated screamo fans will love the brutal yells of ‘Save Me! Said The Saviour’, whereas people with more delicate ears will enjoy the emotional power of ‘Don’t Take Chances’.

However, I really cannot stress enough the importance of their melodic vocalist Liam Cromby. The oldest member of the band, his melodic parts on the songs like their debut single ‘Nothing Good Has Happened Yet’, and ‘I Used To Be So Much More’ are truly what sets this band apart. No auto tune here-this man has one of the finest and most soulful voices I have yet heard. Also, rather than use their clean vocalist as a stand-in, just to add an iota of variety while the screamer’s throat takes a couple of seconds to heal, Cromby’s vocals are delivered with just as much passion and flair as Brown’s. Many of their songs take the form of Cromby singing the verses and chorus, with Brown simply providing an aggressive spice on top. This produces a powerful harmony and slaps you in the face so you’ll realise that this is definitely a band to watch in future.

by Marcus Jones

‘Nothing Good Has Happened Yet’ video:

‘These Days, I Have Nothing’ video:

Listen if you like: You Me At Six, Asking Alexandria, Lostprophets, Enter Shikari, Bullet For My Valentine, Escape The Fate

LATEST : David Cameron has just left Buckingham Palace and is now Prime Minister, having formally signed the agreement with the Queen. He has arrived at 10 Downing Street, place of dreams.

ON THE SPEECH : There are “Deep pressing problems”,but Cameron has decided to form a “proper and full coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats” and “put aside party differences”, “to take difficult decision”  and form a “strong government, to “rebuild trust in our political system”, reforming parliament and ensuring that politicians are always “their servants and not their masters.” He asks us to be responsible to our country, and to have a sense of duty, and that “those who can should” and that “we will always provide for those who cannot.” He wants to build a society of “freedom, fairness, and responsibility,” by rebuilding our communities.

It has finally happened. At this very moment Gordon Brown is on his way to speak to the Queen, only minutes away from handing over power to a Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition, which David Cameron will lead. It remains to be seen what the terms of the agreed deal are, and the Liberal Democrats federal executive committee still does not meet until 9.30pm and he requires a 75% majority, but it has become evident that the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have agreed some sort of a deal. He has spent a while with the Queen, explaining the process to the Queen, and how he will form a majority.

Gordon Brown’s departing words where “I wish the next prime minister well as he makes the important choices for the future. Only those who have held the office of prime minister can understand the full weight of its responsibilities and its great capacity for good. I have been privileged to learn much about the very best in human nature and a fair amount too about its frailties – including my own.” He made a gracious exit, with his two sons and wife with him, and has quickly been greeted with good wishes from members of the press and MPs.

The deal still has to be ratified tonight at 9.30pm, and Simon Hughes, a senior member of the Liberal Democrats, stated that “I will use my head rather than my heart, and if it’s something I believe will deliver the sort of more liberal and more democratic future that I’ve fought for for 30 years or more then I’d be prepared to support it.” But the question still remains as to the nature of the deal, despite many Conservatives being highly optimistic about it. The draft agreement included a fixed-term parliament of three years or more and an agreement by the Liberal Democrats not to vote against them while they are in power. There is also said to be no tax now on the first £10,000 one earns according to Lord Carlile. Whether this is in the final agreement remains to be seen.

Labour will begin its search for a new leader over the coming months, but it is expected to take until July.  Harriet Harman will now be Acting Leader of the Labour Party. Already the spin has begun from Labour, as Peter Mandelson excused the loss, saying Labour had had”a good, long innings”, whilst Ed Balls pointed to their losing the election as a fault of Gordon Brown supporting the country rather than focusing on politics often.

The question now to be asked is what to expect from the new leader. We’ll be reviewing key points of the manifesto shortly when the deal is announced. Comment below or follow us on twitter.

In short, Cameron is offering fixed-term parliaments and a referendum on Alternate Vote which he has just phoned Nick Clegg to discuss. Labour on the other hand offer on fuller proportional representation and a bill on the Alternate Vote scheme. It remains to be seen whether without a leader of the party how cast-iron Labour’s offer will be. Alistair Darling seems to hold little hope insisting that they are necessary but that he’s unsure if anything will come of it. At 10 o’clock the Liberal Democrats will meet to discuss the offer once more.

Michael Gove, the shadow minister for education would have us think that there is “unanimous” support among Tory MPs and peers for offering the Lib Dems a referendum on electoral reform, but all his comments are really showing is the Conservative desire to sign the deal and get into parliament. Most of Labour have given up, despite the talks, as the pact is unworkable, as it fails to secure them a majority, even despite the fact that Sinn Fein have never sat in on parliament. Labour MP Diane Abbott says that “tragically, the numbers mean that a Lib-Lab pact would be least stable”.

Harriet Harman, the deputy leader of the labour party is also set to make a speech at some point, outlining the future of the party. We’ll have news tomorrow on the speech and all the events as soon as they unfold. For now comment below, or contact us on twitter.

As Tory-Lib Dem talks move further on, Brown has finally announced that he will step down. It will perhaps signal the hope of a new wave to Lib-Lab talks which may even lead to a new coalition, though that seems unlikely considering its dependence on nationalist parties which may well cost them dear. Nick Clegg has finally agreed to set up official, formal talks between Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Now the challenge is for Labour to decide upon a new leader who can pull the Liberal Democrats away from Labour. Constitutionally, the argument goes that an unelected Labour Prime Minister would not be unconstitutional as we have a parliamentary democracy whereby we vote for our local candidate who joins part of a block in parliament that elects a leader to speak for it, rather than the public electing a leader in the same style as a presidential democracy. Obviously the criticism is that after the TV debates and the past few years developments in politics, people vote more and more for the Leader and the party than just the party and its candidate.

But it is necessary to remember that Labour now lack a leader which it will take a while to elect democratically from within the party and the two parties together lack a majority. The ultimate sacrifice for the coalition or a vain gesture in the hope of keeping his party in power?

Fantasy Cabinet anyone? Tweet us, or comment below.

Amid emerging news that Liberal Democrat negotiators met with Labour, alongside this is the new developing story that at 5pm today Liberal Democrats will meet to once and for all decide just how important fair votes are, not just for themselves but for the people of this country. Anyone who feels strongly on this matter should join the waiting crowd outside The Work Foundation, at 21 Palmer Street wearing purple.

On a broader note, an increasing number of Liberal Democrats have been debating the renewed possibility of Lib-Lab time-limited coalition, though the obvious objection regarding the sacrifices that would have to be made to the nationalist parties has once again been raised. Dr Richard Grayson, former Lib Dem policy director said that “Any deal with Labour would have to be time-limited. I think, for example, if a deal could be done for two years that would allow emergency measures to be taken on the public finances, that would allow a referendum on electoral reform and some re-drawing of boundaries, the people would know that they’re going to get a chance to vote [after that].” But many of the Labour MPs have unfortunately been quoted as thinking that Gordon Brown has ‘blown’ his chance of forming a parliament, by simply sitting there waiting.

The obvious question to ask now is simply, what would Tony Blair do? As ex-prime minister, despite dropping lower and lower in the polls and in parliament before he resigned, has never failed to be dynamic and charming. He was truly a love-hate character in a way that the PM never was, and it was clear that had he stood for election once more, he would either have been thumpingly beaten on account of the two wars, or he would have been heralded from the roof tops, and perhaps even increased his majority. But even if he had not managed either of those two things, considering his relationship with the Liberal Democrats he certainly would have been first to be approached by them, and would never have suffered the humiliation that Brown must now face as he waits in Parliament for the phone call that will tell him his fate.

As always comments below, or you can check out our twitter!

Tomorrow dawns a bright and brilliant new day in British Politics. The Liberal Democrats stand ready to consult the rank and file about the proposed Lib-Con coalition. Whilst we don’t know anything about the deal it’s been evident since this morning through the language Clegg and the two parties have been using that some kind of conclusion is being reached.

David Cameron has been addressing his shadow cabinet perhaps warning them of any potential job losses and the exact nature of the detail, with William Hague and the negotiating team having just arrived. Earlier today Nick Clegg met the prime minister to update him on the nature of talks, and perhaps to finally tell him that it was time to walk the plank.

But the critical thing is whether or not the rank and file of the Liberal Democrats will agree. Jane Watkinson a prolific liberal democrat blogger had this to say “Well, personally, if Clegg continues these talks and actually does what it appears he is going to do – and that is back the Tories – he hasn’t listened to us. He has stabbed his party members in the back, most of who have campaigned on policies that are essential for political reform. If he joins the Tories, all those hopes and aspirations will die, it, in my opinion, will start the destruction of this party.” Many people have voiced the same concerns, but the real question is how many in number they are, considering that Lord Paddy Ashdown and several other MPs have continued to voice concerns about the scale of the debt and the importance of tackling it. Now that this issue becomes more and more tantamount, perhaps people will vote in an attempt to deal with the deficit, rather than with their hearts.

It looks like there’ll be no more news for today, but the parties have already decided what will happen, and now it’s time for their members to say yes or no. Are you a member of the Liberal Democrats? Which will you say? Comment below or add us on twitter.

“I cannot believe that anyone who forms a government can be deaf to the calls of the people for Proportional Representation”  Lord Ashdown, former Liberal Democrat Leader. Yet Nick Clegg’s priorities seemed to be arranged in a different order. First is Tax reform, followed closely by improving education, and then sorting out the banks. Political Reform, and not even Proportional Representation, comes a pithy fourth despite the huge protest which Nick Clegg addressed yesterday. To the assembled crowd he said, ”We don’t like these negotiations going on behind closed doors. The votes that people cast on Thursday should have given us a coalition government…We need a consensus government to deal with the difficult choices we have ahead. That’s what the British people voted for.”

The Scottish National Party have called for a Lib-Lab Coalition, and promised alongside Plaid Cymru to stand with them, and the SDLP traditionally would join with Labour, giving them in total an extra 12 seats which would take them to 327 against the Conservatives 318.

There are of course many commentators calling for this to end swiftly in order to calm the markets, so there will be a great pressure on Mr Clegg to join the Conservatives today, if he ever will, which looks increasingly more likely, unless Gordon Brown resigns as he should have done at the end of the election. The right to form parliament still might have come to him, and politically he would have been in a much more credible position.

Also later today : The Liberal Democrats meet to decide once and for all! (We hope)

Follow us on twitter!

Antipathy is spreading through the Lib Dem ranks, and the reasons behind it are foreboding for the Liberal Democrats. If they swing to Labour they’ll keep their core, but any swing will crucify them for propping up an unelected government. But the core are feeling betrayed by what was seen as an an anti Tory vote, and the thought of having to leave behind all their principles, including giving up on Proportional Representation, the heart of their election promise.

Throughout the past week every member of the Labour Party from Mandelson to Miliband has been pushing the idea that ‘First Past The Post is on its last legs’ due to the hung parliament in which it’s resulted. Several members of the Liberal Democrats have also joined this rallying call, but it’s a call which Clegg seems not to hear, unless he is in the midst of some well planned trick, whereby he can fulfil his promise to offer the Conservatives a chance at power and at the same time stick to his principles.

Last night in Liberal Democrat HQ, a secret meeting was conducted between Clegg and his party, whilst he spent the rest of the night in conversation with the Tories. Will his party go with him into unmarked territory despite many of its members including the Energy spokesman having lost faith in such a deal? Cameron’s head will be just as worried about this deal, as there are already clear divides within the Conservative Party, on key issues like Europe, Green Issues and the NHS which will worsen as they swing further left.

On a side note, if your principle is Proportional Representation, sign this petition :

“I  just signed a petition to Take Back Parliament. We can see from the results that the system isn’t fair – and that Parliament doesn’t represent us. The only way we can change this is the same way that we got the vote in the first place – by coming together and fighting for change.”

Saturday’s Protest Video :

I’ve been waiting to put my two cents in. Nick Clegg’s just headed into the Liberal Democrats headquarters so we’ll see what happens there. For now, you’ll have to abide with me (well, if you want.)

Naturally, I’m a labour supporter. I tend to side with Labour because I want my vote to be helping others not just myself. This is the way I see Labour’s principle of redistributing wealth, that it is necessary to spread this burden in a way that helps the poorest because everyone deserves a certain Quality of Life.

Labour have diverged a lot from that principle. I’m ashamed to say that I think Labour have failed us, on more counts than one. There have been good things in the past few years but crucially there has been a huge split between where we were meant to be going, to where we ended up. Gordon Brown has not been radical, he’s not been elected, and he hasn’t been a driving force in any way. That’s not to say Brown doesn’t have his plus points, as I’m sure he does, as rarely reported as they are.

But the Conservatives have always illustrated selfishness to me. They favour lower taxes, and less government, which means less job creation in the public sector and less money for the poor. You don’t have to agree with this. In fact I hope you don’t, so long as your reason not to is solid.

I’ve been flip flopping all day about how I think this will go. Labour and the Liberal Democrats seem less and less likely to sign a pact, but then more and more Liberal Democrats are beginning to question their party on the basis that it might join the right-wing Conservatives who are far away from its principles. Some of the Tories support proportional representation, but a huge majority hate the very idea because it won’t result in them holding power very often, and it will result in so-called ‘weak government’. So in theory a Lib Dem-Tory pact should be off the cards, but now more than ever it seems well and truly on the cards, though whether this is all just for show remains to be seen.

It’s also important to note that the Conservatives received ONLY 36% of the vote. That has never been, until now, sufficient to form a government. They can tell you how many seats they’ve won, how they’re the only party who can legally govern but their share of the vote would not be sufficient anywhere else to govern. I apologise for how biased that may appear, but I wanted to make the fact clear.

Will there be the new kind of politics that the Liberal Democrats used to want? Or will we just see a quick election and a Conservative majority?
I don’t know. And nor does anyone else. So register your comments below and we’ll see if you can beat the experts.

Reminder : Everything’s happening on the BBC

Some New links :

Tory Teenager : Self-explanatory really, a blog.
Labour List : Labour themed Discussion
Lib Dem Blogs : A whole list of Liberal Democrat posts. My personal favourite.

In a move hailed by many as the greatest play for power of the past century, Cameron has decided to begin outlining his plans to form government at 14.30.  Having looked at the individual seats it seems certain that Cameron will reach his total of 306. Whether he can expand on it is anyone’s guess, but his decision to outline his plans shows that he has something up his back pocket, like for example the rumoured 10 seats in Northern Ireland.

Not only does it show that he has something in his hand, it will also force the question of the legitimacy of a Labour attempt to take power, and most likely lead to a defeat at any forthcoming general election, which there is likely to be due to the small majority the Conservatives would be able to reach.

The Liberal Democrats are still trying to ascertain what Cameron is offering, and a meeting on Sunday should decide whether whatever is proposed is accepted. Proportional Representation is the price. There are other offers that could be on the table such as fixed term parliaments.

Yet none of that is enough. The Conservative and Liberal Democrat policies are at odds, with their priorities differing vastly. Green Issues, Non-doms and a Mansion tax, are three things the Lib Dems stand for, and the Tories against. One represents a party of Europhiles, and the other of Eurosceptics. Reconciling those differences, considering that in terms of vote share 39.1% of the coalition’s electors would be Liberal Democrats, will be so key that a parliament is unlikely to be formed efficiently or quickly. The Tories have long been divided over Cameron’s shift closer to Labour, and this could truly emphasise that shift, perhaps in extreme resulting in certain MPs revolting to UKIP.

Gordon Brown remains ‘prime ministerial’ according to the BBC and continues to talk about fairness, though whether this message is being received is still unclear. The electorate have not yet answered anyone’s call.