They look like your typical laid-back indie rockers, sporting vintage tees and faded jeans. But aesthetically, Minneapolis rock group, Story of the Sea, share more in common with the bands they grew up rocking out to the Lemonheads, the Pixies, Jawbox than many of the independent groups currently topping the college charts.
Like their alt-rock forbears, Adam Prince (guitar/vocals), Ian Prince (drums) Damon Kalar (guitar) and John McEwen (bass) put their hard-earned chops to work on well-crafted rock songs brimming with inventive guitar riffs and ferocious beats. They play with the unapologetic precision and polish only accomplished artists can pull off.
Whether onstage or on the tracks of their debut album Enjoying Fire, the band’s seasoned, larger-than-life sound boldly contrasts the trend toward lo-fi recordings and rough-around-the-edges instrumentation currently dominating
indie rock.
But Story of the Sea’s refreshingly robust take on songwriting isn’t the only thing that keeps a listener coming back for more. The band uses their powerful guitar-bass-drums formula to hammer out everything from fist-pumping rock ballads to surprisingly poppy, hook-laden tunes. Yet for all their remarkable versatility, each song is unmistakably SOTS.
Which is why, after having spent time playing in plenty of other successful Minneapolis bands (like Houston, The Dames, Align and Manplanet,) Ian, Adam, Damon and John are happy to have a band that lets them and their songs just be their denim-wearing selves.
