Blue Ocean

Blue Ocean emerged from the work of Oakland, California-based musicians Rick Altieri and David Stringi, who shaped a grainy, opaque strain of noise pop. Their 2023 full-length debut, Fertile State, wove in delay, buzzing distortion, swirling electronics, and churning rhythms alongside the classic indie pop melodies and progressions that surfaced from the depths.

Longtime friends, Altieri and Stringi had previously played together in the Boston punk band Puke before reconnecting later in Oakland, California. They drew on shoegaze and noise bands along with the bittersweet jangle of C-86 when they launched Blue Ocean in the late 2010s. The project's opening EPs, blue ozone and Summer of Hands, appeared in rapid succession during mid-2019. A third self-released EP, Fade, arrived in late 2020, after which Paisley Shirt Records released Blue Ocean, a compilation of Summer of Hands and Fade, in April 2021, with Dandy Boy Records overseeing the vinyl pressing.

The duo subsequently signed to Slumberland Records for their first official full-length. Fertile State appeared in October 2023, its sound only marginally more defined yet still saturated with noise.