The Octopus Project: Golden Beds EP

The Octopus Project made its name in recent years with stomping, Theremin-spiked instrumentals and a worldwide touring schedule. The band’s five-song Golden Beds EP gleefully throws some visuals and vocals into the mix. While there’s plenty of the former, there’s not quite enough of the latter. The EP includes seven videos, six for songs not on the audio portion of the CD. Opener “Wet Gold” is the only song on the EP that has a visual portion — a wise decision considering it’s arguably the strongest song featured on the collection. Yvonne Lambert’s ethereal vocals and repeated electronic pulse on “Wet Gold” create a nice contrast with Toto Miranda’s lively drums.

The vocals continue on “Moon Boil” but disappear over the course of the three remaining songs, which resemble the bulk of the band’s previous work. The slow-building “Rorol” doesn’t miss the vocals once Miranda’s hi-hats crash in, but “Wood Trumpet” and “Half a Nice Day” practically cry out for them to fill in the sonic gaps. Like “Queen” from 2007’s Hello, Avalanche, “Wet Gold” and “Moon Boil” prove the band is more than capable of adding thoughtful vocals to beef up its sound. That said, Golden Beds is a generous little CD with the inclusion of videos, and the Octopus Project continues to maintain an intriguing combination of digital and analog sound.