Karate - The Bed Is In The Ocean

Karate - The Bed Is In The Ocean

Tracklist:
A1 There Are Ghosts
A2 The Same Stars
A3 Diazapam
A4 The Last Wars
A5 Bass Sounds
B1 Up Nights
B2 Fatal Strategies
B3 Outside Is The Drama
B4 Not To Call The Police

On Karate's their third full-length, 1998's 'The Bed Is In The Ocean', the band soldiered on as a trio, with mid-stream addition Jeff Goddard's bass work helping establish a sidewinding path forward through the smoky jazz melodicism and sun-beaten blues brushstrokes that hung in the background of the band's catalog. In their short time together, Karate helped bolster the national punk ecosystem, a scene in which individual artistic vision was prized but rarely achieved. Singer-guitarist Geoff Farina frequently teased out the emotional nuances of each song, his worn-in voice shading in the complexities of his enigmatic lyrics. On 'The Bed Is In The Ocean' Farina sounded like a guy who knew exactly the right thing to tell whoever may be listening. And with Karate's snaking turns through quasi-punk reveries no one else appeared capable of mustering, it's comforting to hear it accomplished by a band that knew exactly what they were doing.