Imagine They Might Be Giants, B-52s and David Byrne all in one room - firstly, how legendary would that be? Secondly, that sums up the sound of Rob Davis' project Spacetime Satellites, The third release under this moniker, 'Ocean Boy' is as deliriously unhinged yet as perfectly formed as fans have come to expect. Telling the tale of a “doggy who likes to swim, in the ocean without a fin”, Ocean Boy fights crime disguised as a “mollusc with no eyes.” Yes, you read that correctly. A brilliant mix of beach party go-go hoe-down frolics and a Saturday morning cartoon theme, Ocean Boy is the best track The B-52s wish they had recorded. It’s yesterday’s sound of the day after tomorrow today!
Many who are familiar with Rob Davis’ output as Cholesterol Jones and Robert-Jan Davis may associate his music with barbed alt-folk angst. Spacetime Satellites is a ray of strangely-coloured sunshine. Poppy, danceable and almost impossible not to clap and sing along with, they have the song-writing chops of the B52s and Sparks, interweaving flights of fancy with Farfisa keyboards and surfy guitars from the 1960s. Like Davis’ beguiling animated videos, there is both Day-Glo childish glee and slicks of ghoulish humour which render Spacetime Satellites both completely out of time and yet absolutely what the world needs NOW – if you can’t welcome Ocean Boy into your arms smelling like a wet dog, there really is no hope for Mankind.