The Octopus Project : Golden Beds EP

While there’s a ton of great instrumental, post-rockish music out there, there are only a handful of bands that do it well live, like Explosions In the Sky, Battles – and The Octopus Project. The four-person Austin act brings energy to the stage, as well as instrument-switching, formal attire – even a theremin! In fact, it sometimes feels as if their recorded material can’t quite capture their live experience. Golden Beds EP doesn’t go the whole way to doing that, but, in five songs, it spans a lot of what makes The Octopus Project special.

However, what’s most notable about the EP is that the group actually sings on the first two tracks, “Wet Gold” and “Moon Boil”.  But the two still vary, “Gold” some high indietronica beauty back by real skill, “Boil” more rockin’ (though a little run-of-the-mill for The Octopus Project).  That variance continues with the three instrumental tracks on Golden, from the restrained haunt of “Rorol” to the shining post-rock of “Wood Trumpet”, closing with the sweet indietronica of “Half a Nice Day”.

In 2006, unbeknownst to the band, a fan of The Octopus Project entered them in a contest to play Coachella – and the band won.  Golden Beds EP isn’t long enough to encompass all the arms of the live Octopus, but certainly reaches.