Owl City – “Ocean Eyes”
Republic
-Out now
It has all the elements necessary for it to succeed: plenty of echo, saccharine hooks, auto-pitched vocals and a catchy pop beat. But what “Ocean Eyes” seems to lack is the element of sui generis that it needs to distinguish its upbeat songs from other pop acts, such as Motion City Soundtrack and the more electronic PlayRadioPlay! Here you’ll find pleasant enough songs, almost nauseatingly so, that stick the first few plays. However, there is little depth in songwriting, which seems solely intent on utilizing the “in crowd” of musical effects (see above), and likewise little depth in lyric writing (Umbrella Beach – “I’ll spread out my wings/ And fly”). Overall, there is little new territory tread here that isn’t already sufficiently tread by others; take a pass.