Unicorn Kid

                                                       Tidal Rave EP

                                                           8.7/10

                                                        iPod Worthy

Remember how water levels in some video games would be kinda weird? Maybe not weird but there was always something different about them (besides the fact that your character was submerged in water) specifically the music. The sounds were wilder, faster and predictably tropical. And that is precisely the aesthetic seapunk encapsulates. Listening to a seapunk artist, such as the talented Unicorn Kid, will bring you back to the summer daze of the 90s — playing Sonic the Hedgehog, Kirby’s Dreamland, Megaman, etc., splashing through waves while abrasive 8-bit sounds and glitch-music bombard you head and Mountain Dew leaks out of your mouth and your fingers are covered in orange-cheese-dust. Well, maybe some of you had a healthier childhood than I did.

Anyway, Oliver Sabin’s (aka Unicorn Kid) lastest EP is something like that. But imagine Sonic, Kirby and Megaman all decided to hit up a rave after saving the world. That’s the best way to describe what Unicorn Kid/the seapunk “movement” is doing. Although his Tidal Wave EP is only three tracks they are marvelous songs that I’ve had on repeat for awhile now. Opener “Chrome Lion,” is a Balearic 8-bit euphoria that glides, energies and has sick emotional progressions that leave you full of nostalgia. The second track “Boys of Paradise” picks up where “Chrome Lion” leaves off. The beats are slightly heavier but the fun no where comes close to stopping. The synth, vocal and clapping breakdown towards the end of the track shakes things up brings the song to a new level.

Then there is the final cut, “True Love Fantasy,” which blends electro, 8-bit and dubstep into a song that sounds like it was made out of pure enjoyment…and maybe some E. The cheerleader-like chants, claps and stomps that dart throughout the song are addicting. They are broken up, however, but the dubstep breakdowns. Things never slow down on the EP and “True Love Fantasy” closes it out with a huge bashing bang.

At times, Tidal Rave EP feels not so far away from sounds commonly found in K-pop but more specifically J-pop. If you played Unicorn Kid’s EP and told me it was Perfume instrumentals I would not question it at all. And that’s pretty awesome. 

Seapunk may be just a fad (some are calling it witch house 2.0 or chillwave 3.0) but it is one I am willing to invest in. It is too early to tell where seapunk will go — will it fizzle out or takeover the indie subcultures like storm? Only time can tell. But for now we have Tidal Rave EP — an fresh record full of nostalgic sounds and hard beats that culminate into something worth listening to and talking about.

Listen to Unicorn Kid’s “True Love Fantasy” and “Chrome Lion” below: