Name: The Bed Is In The Ocean
Brand: Karate

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

NUM905LPC2

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Colour

white

Colour details

White, Red, Blue Splatter.

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Discogs ID

Discs

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: Yes

Format detail

LP++

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Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2022-03-04

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Tax rate GB

UPC / Barcode

0825764190534

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1 / Extended format: Yes / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / white

NUM905LPC1

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Tri Colour Lego Vinyl

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Rough Trade Exclusive: Yes

White, Yellow and Green Vinyl. Exclusive Shared with label.

0825764190527

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1 / Extended format: Yes / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: Yes / Signed copies: No / white

Artist

Karate

Genre GB

Alternative / Modern

Label GB

Numero

Exclusive

A lingering guitar note. A cushion of a bassline nudging along a hushed cadence unspooling impressionistic poeticism one halting line at a time; the sparse snap of a snare providing punctuation. This is how Boston’s Karate opened their third full-length, 1998’s The Bed Is In The Ocean. Perhaps this was a reaction to the aggressive punk tones that marked their previous album, or maybe they hoped to capture the somnambulant dusk on one of those pristine fall days that make living in a town whose population swells when colleges welcome back students all worthwhile. Then again, Karate never made a point of chasing the same idea twice, and “There Are Ghosts” remains in line with the band’s stylistic intrepidness and unpredictability. Even the group’s lineup appeared constantly in flux. After expanding from a trio to a quartet and employing a dual-guitar attack with 1997’s In Place of Real Insight, founding member Eamonn Vitt hung up his axe to attend medical school. Karate 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. Their exacting precision and emotive interplay helped recombine the DNA of the dignified grace of slowcore, the hot-and-sweaty atmospherics of the blues, and the high-wire tension of post-hardcore to deliver drawling instrumental curveballs and a furtive riptide climax with a controlled grace on “Outside Is The Drama.” 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; no matter how difficult it may be to parse his snatched-from-daily-life wisdoms, 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.

The Bed Is In The Ocean

Music GB