Go By Ocean
It has been said that “the darkest hour is just before the dawn,” and in the case of Ryan McCaffrey, leading member of San Francisco indie rock band Go By Ocean, that dark hour turned into several dark years. As things currently stand, however, we’re somewhere around midday. The sun is at its highest and the singer/guitarist is embracing his new life in the light. On Go By Ocean’s second full length, McCaffrey and his troupe have harnessed its energy and the aptly titled Sun Machine radiates a message of hope and perseverance.
To make the album, the group blended a traditional live approach with contemporary production to create a densely layered sound, which belies its spontaneous creation, and all arrangement decisions were made during one week-long session at Stinson Beach’s Panoramic House studio. At the moment of its creation McCaffrey was healthy and hopeful, and it shows; he entered the studio with one producer, four musicians, and ten songs written on acoustic guitar and vocals, and left with a fully fleshed out and cohesive album that is well summarized by its title.