Set your shoes to gaze mode and rip into this king size cloud of ethereal dream pop. Inspired by the spate of Brits leaning into swirling distortion and punishing volume, San Jose’s Ozean played just two shows in their brief existence, dissolving before the Scene That Celebrates Itself ever broke the silicon barrier. The quartet’s 1993 self-titled demo cassette has been remastered and pressed at 45RPM, a timeless document of late adolescent wonder and experimentation.
While exiting a Ride and Lush show in 1991, Eric Shea was handed a flyer that read, “Band seeking guitarist and singer. Influences include Slowdive, Cocteau Twins, Xmal Deutschland, The Byrds, Lush, Pale Saints.” Not even a week after calling the number listed below, Shea brought his Rickenbacker over to Mike Prosenko’s home. After admiring his vintage Fender Jaguar and talking about music, Shea and Prosenko plugged in and began creating the music that would become Ozean. Both musicians agreed that the songs they were writing called for a female singer with an otherworldly voice. Enter Lisa Baer. Influenced by the breathy cooing of Astrud Gilberto and the songs of The Jesus And Mary Chain, she was the perfect fit. The trio tried out various bass players and drummers to fill out their rhythm section after booking time with Michael Padilla to record their demo on his Fostex Model 80 1/4" 8-Track reel-to-reel tape recorder. They enlisted Mark Baldwin to infuse their demos with his Peter Hook inspired rhythmic talents before mixing to DAT and releasing a few private pressed cassettes to friends. As with many young bands of the early 1990s, Ozean disbanded too soon. But an accidental rediscovery of these 1992 recordings begged for a reissue. Unfortunately, the original DAT master was nowhere to be found. But thanks to Tim Green of Louder Studios, a remaster from one of the original cassettes is now available.
