OSEES

SORCS 80 (Castle Face)

John Dwyer’s Osees continue their recent streak of concise songs and albums with SORCS 80: a gonzoid marriage of A Foul Form’s Crass-y punk and the accessible new wave of precursor album Intercepted Message. As ever, preoccupations of dungeons and dragons, orcs and hostile planets dominate the lyrics and titles. The album kicks off in blitzkrieg Ramones fashion, with thrashing drums and John barking “1,2,3,4 – look at the fucking sky”: if you’re a fan of late 70s Devo or early Chrome, then Pixelated Moon – and this album – is for you.

Termination Officer and Drug City, with their squalling sax solos and buzzing keyboards, are the epitome of no wave, where John “gets dizzy all the time”, and Also The Gorilla corrals a phat synth sound, shuffling double drums and proggy chord changes into a danceable groove. Zipper could be an LCD Soundsystem tune, Blimp lets go of the ropes in a change of pace and Cochon D’Argent is a frenzied carve-up.

With Neo-Clone closing another strong album, OSees stand out alongside King Gizzard as one of the best shapeshifting bands on the planet. Altogether now… “5,6,7,8 – where do we annihilate?”

words CHRIS SEAL