Osees -- Metamorphosed: Review

Osees -- Metamorphosesed

[Castle Face Records]

Osees’ frontman John Dwyer shifts through rock genres like an identity crisis-stricken teenager, moving from freak folk, to psychedelic garage, to progressive rock, and, in 2020, krautrock-ian punk. Metamorphosed is a short but sweet continuation into his current krautrock obsession, binding the hellish turmoil in 2020 into chaotic psych rock jams.

In the last few years the Osees have explored the worlds of droning 70s krautrock and swirling progressive rock. Their releases in the late 10’s like Smote Reverser and Orc have extracted pieces out of each of these genres, drawing from the likes of Can, Amon Düül II, and Agitation Free. Face Stabber--an expansive double album in 2019--and Protean Threat--a kinetic punk release just last month--are promising, and show the Osees reaching a masterful peak of tenacity for their new sound.

This album is a collection of leftover cuts from the Face Stabber sessions, and its off-kilter songs show that. The tracklist is wonky to say the least: the three tight psych punk openers are balanced out with the two closing tracks that make up to 35 minutes of the record’s runtime. This isn’t to discredit the album, as I think it actually pays off well, and its themes in all the tracks oddly reflect the political American landscape today.

The first three psych punk songs enter with a punch to the gut and leave within two minutes each without a trace. The opener “Saignant” is an adrenaline-pumping opener that balances between cataclysmic anxiety and violent energy in less than two minutes. “Electric War” plays with psych punk even more with its chorus messing around with rigid guitar tremolos, the signature of frontman Dwyer in his current phase.

In contrast to the “in you face” attitude of the first three songs, the sprawling “The Virologist” leaves space in the air for the listener to get lost in. It’s linear echoing rhythm section leaves way for indulgent synth work and ripping guitar solos that slash through the mix in fuzzy, edgy bliss. Although this song was recorded probably a year and a half ago, I like to think it was foretelling the viral panic affecting us today and the virologist (Fauci) trying to guide America through it (idk, just a thought :]).

The record’s centerpiece “I Got a Lot” channels the country’s anxiety with the repeated mantra “I got a lot on my miiind, you got a lot on your miiind…”. For an indulgent twenty-three minute long psych rock jam, it’s actually pretty well-paced and stays interesting through all of it. Unlike the preceding track, it is much more guided and moves through distinct musical scenes, with colorful instrumentation underlying all of it. For a psych-rock junkie like me, “I Got a Lot” and its admittedly indulgent monotony is just what I need to carry me out of the anxiety in the current moment these days.

Osees return on Metamorphosed with solid b-sides from the Face Stabber session that deserve more credit than given, delivering an indulgent but exciting tight forty-three minutes of kraut-psych-punk euphoria.

RIYL: Ty Segall, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, White Fence

Listen To: “Electric War”, “I Got a Lot”