AMG Review of Sargasso Sea

Tim Sendra
All Music Guide

The Great Depression's EP The Sargasso Sea contains one song from their debut full-length for Fire Records, an unreleased song, and a track from one of the group's previous albums. "The Sargasso Sea" harks back to an early-'90s alternative rock sound that has certainly fallen out of favor but may be due for a comeback: hazy guitar textures, steady beats, loads of atmosphere (in this case trumpets and synths), and laconic vocals -- think the Church circa Under the Milky Way, a relaxed Echo & the Bunnymen, or a Mighty Lemon Drops with tunes. The song is one of the best moments on Unconscious Pilot. The second track, "Danger at Make Out Pass," gets its first airing here. It is a quiet, pastoral air that calls to mind a less stressed Radiohead, with Tom Cranley's aching vocals hinting at melancholy depths. The third song, "Lorraine Called, She Wants You to Work," is taken from Heaven Is Becoming and is a short repetitive sketch of a song with more melancholy vocals, sort of like Sigur Rós with a limited studio budget and a supply of Ritalin. The Great Depression are doing their best to live up to their name; "The Sargasso Sea," and the album the song is taken from, shows that they are getting there.