Track Review: Daughters ‘Ocean Song’

Daughters is a band I have never been familiar with. I went into this completely blind, but with an open mind. Let me just say, I was surprised.

I’m still not sure if I even like this song.

The song’s title, “Ocean Song,” made me think it was going to be calming and smooth, maybe with some soft piano in the background.

I was very wrong.

At the beginning, the intense guitar and drums almost made me jump. Then the band’s frontman Alexis Marshall begins to tell the story of Paul. It seems that Paul is a character made up for the song and he’s going through some kind of frustration. He’s fed up with his life and he wants “to go, to run” and find a new life outside of his own.

The outro of the song is “To know, to see for himself. If there is an ocean beyond the waves, beyond the waves.” Which makes me think Paul is trying to find something beyond the horizon, bigger and better than himself.

Daughters is a rock band from Providence, Rhode Island. They formed in 2002 shortly after the release of As the Sun Sets. They took a break from music in 2010, but made a comeback in 2013 and released You Won’t Get What You Want. Daughters current band lineup is frontman Alexis Marshall, drummer Jon Syverson, guitarist Andrew Sadler, and bassist Samuel Moorehouse Walker.

I admire the way Daughters are able to tell a story in just five minutes. Songs are fun when they’re catchy and you’re able to learn all of the lyrics to them, but it’s always nice to hear artists bring out stories and characters.

Marshall reminds me a lot of The Front Bottoms frontman, Brian Sella, in the way he speaks on his songs rather than sings them. The instrumental section which makes up the last minute and a half of the song is also strong. Having never heard the band before this gave me a deeper look into the band’s sound.

Overall, if you’re into rock and a story — instead of a catchy tune — “Ocean Song” might be a good addition to your playlist. But for me, it’s just not my style and falls a little too far out of the realm of music taste.