Oakman - Waterscape (2016)
I'm gonna just get it out of the way: Like many people have already pointed out, this band is basically "All We Know Is Falling"-era Paramore. The lead vocalist sounds and even -LOOKS- like Hayley Williams, and y'know, it's whatever because I love Paramore, so it essentially gives you more Paramore to listen to, so that's good, right? Yeah, sure, but it comes with a price: Since they're all French, their grasp on the English language isn't the greatest that it could be, which is understandable, but some of the lyrics come across as really awkwardly worded, almost like they were thrown into Google Translate and back. I do not fault the band for this: They have a much stronger grasp on the English language than I do of the French language, after all, but when the song "Hope" begins with "It's that night when your eyes burn in fire that you are suddenly became blind. Watching the silence come into distress, I finally killed myself." it's a bit jarring, even if I understand what she's getting at. I'd go as far to say that even if I wouldn't be able to understand it, I think I'd be perfectly alright with the band putting out music in their own native language.
That gripe aside, they have some nice tunes!! "Water" is a great opener, and "Can You Feel My Hand" is without a doubt the best song on the entire EP, but interestingly enough, they experiment with a little bit of post-rock jamming on the EP's closer "Hope" which they should look into doing more, because as good as they are for newcomers, there's not a lot actually setting this band apart from Paramore at all, to the point where if the English was better, I probably wouldn't be able to tell this apart from some early Paramore b-sides. It feels like the band is a little too comfortable in staying in Paramore's shadow, which I get, the vocalist has a gorgeous voice and the instrumental side of the band ain't bad at all, but you get the feeling that they could be a lot better if they'd venture into other musical territory to help establish Oakman as being a band that can stand on its own two feet without grasping onto their influences to keep themselves standing straight. There's a lot of potential for this band, and I sure do hope that they realize it, because while what they're doing is pretty good, it'd be more interesting to hear what they can cook up in more of a pop-punk meets post-rock vein.
7/10
________________________________________________________
Feel free to stream this album for FREE or buy it from Oakman's Bandcamp!
