Cassette Review // Oracle Porpoise "PARKAS IN THE POOL"

$5 //
Edition of 50 //
https://oracleporpoise.bandcamp.com/album/parkas-in-the-pool //

After an introduction about the value of cassettes we are treated to a dreamy, spaced out song which could be some kind of -gaze.    While it feels mostly instrumental, it also is somewhat trippy.   This takes us into a sort of supersonic sound now, like waves, and there are these vocals behind it- like in the first song- but they're not singing words.  A dream-like sequence fills the sound as well.

We go next into a song which definitely can feel like some level of shoegaze, something which you could hear on When The Sun Hits or The Blog That Celebrates Itself-- something I was listening to back in 2012 when I was getting back into music.  As that drum machine really kicks in you begin to compare this with all of those infamous shoegaze bands you have heard before and probably buy the special edition records when they come out as anniversary editions.

Big synths come out after this, which reminds me more of something from the Breakfast Club era of sound and the vocals seem to become more clear with each passing song.   Singular guitar notes come through spaced out with what sound like spoken words accompanying them.   It feels like we could be in space, but also at the beach as I feel like waves of the ocean can be heard crashing down upon us.

With a brief introduction, the second side starts off with a drum machine sound like Oingo Boingo but with a hint of modern gaze.    Big synth comes through now, reminding me of Underworld, and the vocals get a little bit more high pitched like Hozier.    Drum machines now paint us a softer sound and there are audio clips between each song now but this one just said that the quality never wears out and I must admit that cassettes are somewhat underrated in that regard.

We're treated with this longer song which has a slow pace to it, like a ballad, but there is also this soul to it where it just feels like something out of Motown.   After this comes a song which is an acoustic and vocals, which can be compared with that whole singer/songwriter genre that people tend to not like as a genre label (the particular use of the words, not how the music sounds) but it's just that singing and a guitar deal I do enjoy.

A song which starts with these singular tones but then turns into a guitar ramble with higher pitched vocals and reminds me a bit of Daniel Johnston is how this cassette closes.   It's somewhat strange to me to think of where this cassette started in terms of sound and then how it does end, but it's quite the diverse journey to take and it feels less like a song and more like an album which is something I don't feel like happens enough these days.