For those not in the know, The Ocean Blue are giving 1999’s Davy Jones’ Locker, the fifth and final album of their original ’80s/’90s run, its first-ever vinyl pressing, coming out on August 25th, 2023 via their own Korda Records.

The album was originally self released — after three albums on Sire and one on Mercury Records — before getting wider distribution by March Records in 2001. “It’s definitely our most eclectic and least fussy record,” says bandleader David Schelzel. “We were experimenting with different musical directions, sounds, arrangements and lyrical themes.”

With the release of their self-titled debut, The Ocean Blue quickly achieved widespread acclaim and radio & MTV airplay with top 10 Modern Rock/College Radio hits like Between Something and Nothing, Drifting, Falling, and Vanity Fair. Soon followed by Cerulean, Beneath the Rhythm and Sound, and See The Ocean Blue, the band’s fanbase grew with each release.

The band continued to several records, including 1999’s Davy Jones Locker and 2004’s Waterworks. In 2013, the band released their first full length record in a decade, Ultramarine, on Korda Records. In 2015, the band worked with Sire Records to reissue their first three albums on vinyl, and toured North America and South America, where some of their most passionate fans reside.

In 2019, the band returned with the beautifully powerful Kings and Queens / Knaves and Thieves, and has continued to tour for this release and the newly re-issued vinyl of See The Ocean Blue (2022) and Davy Jones Locker (2023).

Side A:
1. Ayn
2. Garden Song
3. Denmark
4. My Best Friend
5. Cukaloris
6. Been Down A Lot Lately
7. Consolation Prize

Barely out of high school when they inked a deal with Sire, but their fresh jangle pop came alive on their eponymous debut, that’s for damn sure, if not more so than the jaunty, ’60s-inspired pop of Ayn and the angelic brooding and shoegazing reverie of Garden Song, and then we get the free flowing Denmark (says Schezel, “The setting of the song is the band’s tour of Denmark which marked a turning point for us, as one of the founding members of the band left right after that tour and a current member joined us”), the lyrical musings of My Best Friend, the blissful, short but sweet instrumental guitar cut Cukaloris, and the we get both the embracing yearn of Been Down A Lot Lately and the swirling pop of Consolation Prize.

Side B:
1. Cake
2. Bottle Yours
3. I Can’t See You
4. So Many Reasons
5. Do You Still Remember Me?
6. It Never, Just Might

With Schelzel’s songwriting as dreamy, and with as much heavy poetic imagery as he could muster, flipping the vinyl album over, we next get the buoyantly breezy Cake (“Don’t batter your own when you make your cake”) and the melodically layered Bottle Yours, the guitar-driven. I Can’t See You, the pop-tastic breeze of So Many Reasons, the album rounding out on the laid back, pop hispway of Do You Still Remember Me?, closing on the melodic guitar and atmospheric embellishments found within It Never, Just Might.

“On the reissue, we wanted to revisit this album this year, as it was basically out of print and never released on vinyl,” explains frontman and chief songwriter David Schelzel. “As we did this, we realized there were a lot of interesting things going on that record and at that time for the band in terms of recording, songwriting, and trying out different approaches in our own studio. We also thought the album might benefit from some light remastering, which was needed for vinyl anyways, and were really pleased with the results. We’re looking forward to playing some of the songs from this record on tour this fall.”

The Ocean Blue hits the road in support of the reissue of Davy Jones’ Locker this fall, kicking things off in late summer on September 1 at Shank Hall in Milwaukee, WI, and wrapping up on November 18th at Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix, AZ.

TOUR DATES:
Sep 1 Milwaukee, WI Shank Hall
Sep 2 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
Sep 3 Minneapolis, MN Parkway Theater
Sep 8 Washington, DC Howard Theater
Sep 9 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Smalls
Sep 29 Philadelphia, PA Ardmore Theater
Sep 30 Virginia Beach, VA Neptune Festival
Oct 6 San Antonio, TX Sam’s Burger Joint
Oct 7 Houston, TX Numbers
Oct 19 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern
Oct 20 Detroit, MI Magic Bag
Oct 21 Columbus, OH Natalie’s Grandview Music Hall
Nov 10 Miami, FL The Ground @ Club Space
Nov 11 Chapel Hill, NC Cat’s Cradle
Nov 16 San Diego, CA Casbah *SOLD OUT*
Nov 17 San Francisco, CA The Chapel
Nov 18 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom

Official Purchase Link

The Ocean Blue - Denmark [Official Music Video]

www.theoceanblue.com