The Occasion...

The Occasion is a NY band that doesn't sound like a NY band. I mean that in the best way. There's little pretension and posturing on their October 4 release Cannery Hours, which is wide open almost cinematic at times with big codes and instrumentation that straddles both tradition and experimentalism. Three of the band's five members share vocal duties (which usually bugs me but doesn't here) and in addition to the usual guitar, drums, bass The Occasion throws in a percussionist and tape looper. There are instances, moments, in the songs that sound very much like well crafted indie rock but more often than not those moments are taken over by this oddly epic tone. I keep thinking about Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd when I listen to Cannery Hours, and while I don't espouse any particular love of the classic rock cannon I think such comparisions are very flattering for any band playing today. The album never gets heavy in the metal sense, its weight is more atmosphere and density. It broods and glowers rather than yells at you. I didn't expect to like this record very much, but it's won me over and it's done it not by charming me with melody and catchiness (though there's much of that here) but by being well executed and original. I think this may well be one of the better records of 2005. You heard it here first.

1 song from Cannery Hours (they've got additional mp3s on their site and at their myspace location):

Cannery Hours