SORCS 80 hits you upside the head from the first second of opening volley “Look at the Sky,” and you are barely given a chance to get your bearings before being pummeled again. So it goes for the whole shebang that leaves you punchdrunk and giddy. This is OSEES‘ 28th full-length and following last year’s immediate, near-poppy Intercepted Message, he’s devolved the band’s sound, diving into the primordial ooze for an album of bashing caveman punk. Albeit one with NO GUITARS, and only two two synth sounds in their place.
For an album that sounds as primal as this, there was a lot of thought put into it. “This album was a self imposed ambitious project for us,” says Dwyer. “[keyboardist Tom Dolas] and I chose one sound each using synths and created a range of 3 octaves of that sample, then loaded them into Roland SPD-SX samplers and learned the transcribed songs using drum sticks. The idea was to change the way we wrote and to have 4 people along the front of the stage essentially playing percussion. So no guitar, no keys.”
You might not even realize there are no guitars on SORCS 80 as it’s such an aggressive record, though once you do it’s pretty obvious. In addition to being a fun, unexpected pivot and a way to “kick the creative flow” as Dwyer put it (is “synths instead of guitars” an Oblique Strategy card?), it really does manage to bring something fresh to one of the most prolific acts of the last 20 years. The sax, all X-Ray Spex skronk, is a welcome new sound and the absence of guitars makes more room for their two-drummer attack. Dan Rincon and Paul Quattrone get to flex a little more of their percussive muscles this time, and the album allows for some Can-style drumming, too. “People continue to surprise me one way or another,” Dwyer says in the liner notes for SORCS 80 and OSEES continue to surprise as well.
Listen to the album in full below.
OSEES hit North America on tour in late summer and fall, with two Brooklyn shows at Warsaw on October 24 & 25 with Upchuck and Godcaster, respectively. All upcoming dates are listed below.
Catch up on the band’s labyrinthine discography with our guide to the Oh Sees best albums.
OSEES — 2024/2025 Tour Dates
August 15 – London, UK – Electric Ballroom
August 16 – London, UK – Dingwalls
August 17 – Wales, UK – Green Man Festival
August 18 – London, UK – The Shacklewell Arms w/ Container
August 30 – Los Angeles, CA – The Bellwether w/ Warblob and TBA
August 31 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
September 1 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
September 2 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
September 3 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
September 5 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
September 6 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos
September 7 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos
September 9 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Hall
September 10 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall
September 11 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
September 13 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister Bar
September 14 – Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole
October 15 – Shiprock, NM @ Shiprock Chapter House
October 16 – Colorado Springs, CO @ The Black Sheep
October 18 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
October 19 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
October 20 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
October 21 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit Hall
October 23 – Boston, MA @ Royale
October 24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
October 25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
October 26 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
October 28 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
October 29 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
2025:
June 15th – Marble Factory – Bristol
June 16th – 02 Ritz – Manchester
June 18th – SWG3 Galvanisers – Glasgow
June 19th – Liquid Rooms – Edinburgh
June 20th – Irish Centre – Leeds
June 21st – The Crossing – Birmingham
June 23rd – Electric Ballroom – London
June 24th – Heaven – London
June 25th – Chalk – Brighton