Formed in 2011 in Northern Beaches on the outskirts of Sydney and now on to their fourth album, Aussie rockers, Ocean Alley, have built up a decent following in the UK in recent years and are currently mid-way through a European tour promoting their latest release, Low Altitude Living. While the backdrop may have been the English Channel rather than the Pacific, Ocean Alley seemed a perfect fit for a balmy summer evening at Bexhill’s De La Warr Pavilion this week.
First up were the even more appropriately-named Seaside, another Australian band who kicked things off with a lively forty-minute set and a chance to hear their newly-released single ‘Housewife’.
Ocean Alley tend to be labelled alternative rock but their music embraces a variety of influences, from psychedelia to hard rock to reggae. And they eschew the more po-faced, uber-cool aesthetic beloved of some indie rockers, and bring with them enough rock and roll swagger to ensure a much broader appeal. Lead singer, Baden Donegal, has a nicely lived-in feel to his voice and there’s some fine bluesy licks coming from lead guitarist, Angus Goodwin. Even more importantly, there’s an irresistible anthemic quality to so many of their songs which means that even if you’re not too familiar with their entire back catalogue you can’t help but be swept away by the waves of enthusiasm emanating from both band and audience.
Unsurprisingly, a sizeable chunk of the set-list tonight comprises songs from Low Altitude Living, which came out last Autumn. But there’s also room for some older crowd-pleasers, including ‘Lemonworld’ which kicked things off, the rousing ‘Tombstone’ and the ever-popular ‘Confidence’ which drew big roars of approval from the Bexhill crowd.
If tonight’s show is anything to go by this latest tour will have certainly helped to cement Ocean Alley’s reputation among UK audiences and won them over some new fans.
Darren's music blog 