OSEES have announced new album SORCS 80 which will be out August 9 via Castle Face. “This album was a self imposed ambitious project for us. Something to kick in the creative flow,” says bandleader John Dwyer. “The last few years, having been a challenging time in general, felt like a good time for a pivot. The last two albums were so guitar and keyboard centric, I wanted a weird and fun set of parameters for us to work with.” Dwyer continues:
“I demo’d everything at home on cassette 4 track (harkening back to simpler times) using drum loops, and just had at it ’til I had a pile of ‘songs.’
Tom 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.
As we were recording I kept thinking how the sounds, when paired up, sounded a bit like brass. So, we added a saxophone horn section to round out the horniness of the sound with a bit of reedy bell tones. Thanks to Cansfis Foote & Brad Caulkins on tenor and Baritone saxophones 🙂
Read more on the album from Dwyer below.
The first single from the album is “CASSIUS, BRUTUS & JUDAS” which Dwyer says is “about betrayal and how its often fueled by fear, greed & cowardice,” adding “Three classic betrayers contemplated through the lens of 20/20 hindsight punk song. How anybody has bandwidth for keeping people like this in your orbit I’ll never know.” Listen below.
While you wait for the new album, check out our guide to OSEES’ massive discography.
OSEES are on tour in Europe right now and will hit North America in late summer and fall, with two Brooklyn shows at Warsaw on October 24 & 25 with Upchuck and Godcaster, respectively All dates are listed below.
JOHN DWYER ON ‘ORCS 80’
This album was a self imposed ambitious project for us. Something to kick in the creative flow. The last few years, having been a challenging time in general, felt like a good time for a pivot. The last two albums were so guitar and keyboard centric, I wanted a weird and fun set of parameters for us to work with. I demo’d everything at home on cassette 4 track (harkening back to simpler times) using drum loops, and just had at it ’til I had a pile of “songs”.Tom 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.
As we were recording I kept thinking how the sounds, when paired up, sounded a bit like brass. So, we added a saxophone horn section to round out the horniness of the sound with a bit of reedy bell tones. Thanks to Cansfis Foote & Brad Caulkins on tenor and Baritone saxophones 🙂
Sort of a Dexy’s Midnight Runners meets Von LMO meets The Flesh Eaters meets the Screamers kinda punk junk.
Poppy and hooky, heavy at times..
Sort of vacuous and maybe a bit sci-fi in sound.
Boneheaded in riff and heady in lyrics.
Recorded at Stu-Stu-Studio by me on 8 track 1/4” tape .
So pretty hot and raw.Lots to write about today.
A lot of these lyrics were taken from things people said in passing about taking on life right now that stuck with me.
Things that made me reflect.
Things that made me laugh.
Things that made me WTF.Some folks are kind, genuine & give you love and energy.
Some are greedy manipulative ghouls who hang off your veins.
You must be strong, composed and take care of yourself.
Be self aware and check your mind for cracks.
Learn to relax and be well.
There are moments of beauty and redemption.
Its not all bad news and there’s always hope.People continue to surprise me one way or another.
Anyhow,
Hope you enjoy and good luck out there.– John Dwyer
SORCS 80:
01. Look At The Sky
02. Pixelated Moon
03. Drug City
04. Also the Gorilla…
05. Termination Officer
06. Blimp
07.Cochon d’argent
08. Cassius, Brutus & Judas
09. Zipper
10. Lear’s Ears
11. Earthling
12. Plastics
13. Neo-Clone
OSEES – 2024 TOUR DATES:
June 7 – Amiens, FR – Minuit avant la Nuit
June 8 – Venlo, NL @ Best Kept Secret
June 9 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
July 4 – Gachuurt, Mongolia – Playtime Festival
August 2 – Malestroit, FR – Au Pont Du Rock
August 3 – Ponte de Lima, PORT – Punte D’ Lima festival
August 4 – Bagnes, Switzerland – Palp Festival
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