OSees – 7th Level Music

Review: Osees – Abomination Revealed at Last

Osees‘ latest (Their thirty-second?) album, Abomination Revealed at Last, is a rager against the current state of affairs in the U.S.: Trump, religious leaders, tech companies, you name it – all of them are smacked around by John Dwyer and his crew.

The opener, “Abomination,” sounds like early Devo at times and near-thrash metal at others as Dwyer sings / yells about our phones poisoning us and horrible things corrupting us with violence. “Sneaker” has Tim Hellman alternating his bass riffs from funk to fury while Dwyer sings about how insidious everything seems and feels now. “I don’t buy that you have words with God,” Dwyer says on “God’s Guts,” giving televangelists and religious hypocrites a punch in the gut.

“Infected Chrome” might be an Osees tribute to Chrome (whom they’ve covered many times) and a cry for everyone to wake up and maybe take a look around with sober eyes for a change (“Can we not drive around on a dope run?”). Dwyer’s solo on it is short and superb, as it is on “Glue” (A love song! Well, a song about obsession, I suppose.). “Ashes 2” has Osees warning us of “a quiet overthrow” and how people obsessed with politicians can’t see how those they idolize and worship are screwing over all of us.

“Coffin Wax” is a karmic warning to those same politicians and has Paul Quattrone and Dan Rincon going nuts on their drum kits while Tom Dolas creates a freaky synth sound around them. Quattrone and Rincon continue their bonkers assault on “Ashes 1” and “Fight Simulator” (in which Dwyer tells you it’s his – and our – responsibility to tell you what’s wrong with the world). On “Protection,” they call out Mark Zuckerberg, (“Fuck Zuck.” is the first lyric.), Elon Musk, and “Emperor” (You probably can guess.), letting them all know “Revolution’s coming!”

“Glass Window” (which, to my delight, contains a Suspiria reference) is a call-out to folks younger than Dwyer who are too busy being distracted to be enraged at what’s happening around them. For example, the entire subject of “Glitter-Shot,” in which Dwyer reminds us “We are info. We are bait…They own our memories and DNA.” and that “Lies keep the Capitol alive. The tyrant needs attention to survive.” It’s a great closer, with Dwyer’s vocals almost a soapbox rant with a rock-solid groove behind them.

It’s another winner from Osees, and I can’t help but think the title infers it’s a sequel to 2015’s Mutilator Defeated at Last – which had songs named after horrible monsters and references to death. “Mutilator’s” identity might be a few people or institutions from a decade ago, but it’s easy to figure out who and what the “Abomination” is. It’s not Emil Blonsky. It’s someone you see on TV or your phone every day.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Osees and DMBQ – Old National Centre – Indianapolis, IN – October 22, 2025

I hadn’t been to Indianapolis’ Old National Centre since it was called the Murat Temple Theatre…and that was sometime in the 1990s. Entry was quick, and the woman checking IDs and handing out “21+” wristbands told us, “Straight ahead and down the stairs.” I figured Osees were playing in the large performance space in the building. I figured wrong. They were playing two floors below street level in a room the size of an average wedding reception hall.

Stone pillars on the mosh pit’s four corners.

Low ceilings, no windows, two entrances / exits, and a lot of people. My first thought was, “It’s going to be loud as hell in here.” I also saw many people who weren’t well dressed for an Osees show, possibly because they’d never seen them live before now. There were women in high heels, men in hooded sweatshirts and stocking caps, and a majority of the crowd without earplugs.

My prediction about the volume immediately was proven correct when, all the way from Japan, DMBQ took the stage to open the show and unloaded a crazy set of noise / kraut / punk / acid jazz / chaos. Lead guitarist and singer (and journalist) Shinji Masuko) was a wild man, drooling, slapping and punching himself, kicking the air, and creating a collapsing wall of sound while drummer Shinji Wada played stuff that would make many prog-rock drummers jealous and bassist Maki was a cool anchor the entire time. Again, you could tell that most of the crowd had no idea how to react to so much sound in such a small space. They had a lot of new fans by the end of their set.

Osees came out almost immediately after DMBQ finished crushing us, set up their gear, and started their wild, sweaty set at 9:01pm. Any place is a good place to see Osees, but a small space like the one we were in is perfect. The band and their fierce, energy is right there and it almost overpowers you.

They tore through favorites like “Carrion Crawler,” “The Dream” (during which I started the crowd surfing, you’re welcome Indianapolis), and a fun, somehow even more raucous version of “Contraption” (with bassist Tim Hellman being an absolute beast with his groove).

It was a set of many classic cuts from them, with noting newer than material released in 2018 (“C” from Smote Reverser, which closed the show). This might have been because they hadn’t played an Indianapolis show in a long time. Lead singer / guitarist John Dwyer apologized at the start for them not playing there in many years: “Hey, Indianapolis. I’m sorry we never come here but (drummer) Dan (Rincon) hates it…No, I’m only kidding. He hates that fucking joke.”

“I Come from the Mountain” (again, with a killer bass line from Hellman), “Tidal Wave,” and “Ticklish Warrior” were big hits with the crowd, and I was happy to hear old cuts like “I Was Denied” (from 2010’s Warm Slime, the first Osees record I bought) and “Meat Step Lively” (from 2009’s Help).

The pit, as you might imagine, was a sweatbox being in such a small space. I had to back out after “Tidal Wave” (almost halfway through the show) to avoid overheating and burning the rest of the few calories I had in me. I slugged down a big cup of tonic water and then spent the rest of the show out of the pit but within view of the stage. I overheard a woman, seeing them for the first time, say, “They’re playing all my favorites.”

Mission accomplished, gentlemen.

Want to hear the whole set? Well, here you go.

Keep your mind open.

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Top 25 live shows of 2024: #’s 5 – 1

Here they are: My top five concerts of 2024. They were doozies.

#5: Slift – Reggie’s Music Joint, Chicago, IL, October 18, 2024

This was the first time I saw Slift in 2024, and the second time I’d seen them in a small venue. It had been a while since I’d been to a show at Reggie’s, and I’d forgotten how small it is. I figured Slift were going to blow off the back wall with their cosmic rock, and I was right. I don’t know how the building didn’t collapse.

#4: Osees – Thalia Hall, Chicago, IL, October 19, 2024

Yes, I saw Slift one night and then Osees the next. This was the second of two shows at Thalia Hall for Osees (another yearly tradition for them), and seeing them on a bare stage with a fun crowd in one of my favorite venues was outstanding. It was, as always, a blast and the pit crowd is like a reunion of pals you haven’t seen in a year.

#3: LCD Soundsystem – Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL, May 26, 2024

It’s always good to see LCD Soundsystem, and this was night three of a four-night residency at the Aragon for them. It was also my girlfriend’s first time seeing them, and experiencing that with her was delightful. They had a nice tribute to Steve Albini during “Someone Great.”

#2: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Huntington Bank Pavilion, Chicago, IL, September 01, 2024

It had been a couple years since I’d been to a KGATLW show, and this was my first three-hour marathon set by them I was able to attend. Good grief, they slayed this stage, playing everything from Nonagon Infinity cuts to a short techno set. They even went longer than three hours by ending the show with a nearly twenty-minute version of “Head On / Pill.” The massive crowd was in heaven.

#1: Orbital – Radius, Chicago, IL, March 23, 2024

This show was like stepping into a time machine and emerging into a 1995 rave. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see Orbital, and they hadn’t been in Chicago in many years. This was also my girlfriend’s first “rave” of sorts, and the crowd was a mix of Gen Xers like us, new rave kids, goths, and even senior citizens. I hadn’t danced that much in a long while.

I’m looking forward to shows in 2025. I already have tickets to see Viagra Boys this year, and will soon have tickets for King Buffalo‘s current tour. Other bands I hope to catch this year are George Thorogood and The Destroyers, Mdou Moctar, Helmet, Kelly Lee Owens, Soft Play, Gang of Four, Amyl and The Sniffers, A Place to Bury Strangers (again), Diana Krall, Alison Krauss, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard (again), and Osees (again).

Keep your mind open.

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Top 25 live shows of 2024: #’s 10 – 6

Here we are at the top ten live shows I saw last year. Each one gets more intense. Read on!

#10: Osees – Hotel Vegas, Levitation Austin, November 02, 2024

Osees have been doing a four-night residency at Hotel Vegas during Levitation Music Festival for a couple years now. We caught them on night three, and the crowd was wild, possibly fired up by the spiked humidity and all the booze. I lost count of the number of crowd surfers at this show.

#9: The Damned – Concord Music Hall, Chicago, IL, June 02, 2024

I was not going to miss this tour. This was the lineup of The Damned I discovered in the early 1990s by seeing them on The Young Ones. For lack of a better expression, this is “my” version of The Damned. It was a great show in a packed venue that pretty much moshed non-stop for the last third of the set.

#8: Deap Vally – Thalia Hall, Chicago, IL, February 10, 2024

Speaking of shows I wasn’t going to miss, I sure wasn’t going to miss Deap Vally’s final (?) tour. The VIP meet and greet before their powerful set was also a must. I’d seen them twice before and somehow managed to meet them each time, so going out on the same note for me was a no-brainer. The were only five of us there, and they were gracious and wonderful as always. Their set included playing Sistrionix in its entirety and then a wild run through of other tunes. They left nothing on the table by the end.

#7: Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL, February 22, 2024

When I saw Pigsx7 on their first U.S. tour, I knew right away that they were a band I would see at any opportunity. So, I caught their second show ever in Chicago and was again floored by the massive sound they create. It’s difficult to describe the power that hits you at one of their shows, and the crowd was mostly people who hadn’t been at their first show, so it was fun to see a lot of people having their unprepared minds blown.

#6: The Black Angels – Stubb’s BBQ, Levitation Austin, October 31, 2024

I hadn’t seen The Black Angels in too long, and this was my girlfriend’s favorite time seeing them. She’d fallen in love with their sound, so we managed to get up close and listen to them play Phosphene Dream in its entirety and then another long set of stuff from across their catalogue. They never fail to impress me, and they’re the band I’ve seen the most live (over a dozen times now, for certain).

Who’s in the top 5? Two bands I saw twice, another one of my girlfriend’s favorites, a three-hour-plus show, and another band I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to see.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Austin 2024 – Day Three

Like any other marathon, the three-quarter mark is when it really starts to hit you. The same can be said of Levitation Austin, as Day Three is when the festival starts culling the weak and you begin to hear people saying things like, “I tapped out at one a.m.,” “He wanted me to go to another show last night, but I just couldn’t,” and “Austin is kickin’ my ass today.”

It’s also when you start having weird synchronous moments with people you’ve seen at the festival. My girlfriend and I have seen the same woman at all but two of the shows we’ve attended so far. She’s come all this way from England to express her love for a festival cameraman. He’s married, by the way, and this woman’s friend isn’t happy that he’s been dismissive of her. There’s also “blond guy,” who looks and dresses like a character from an early 1990s video game and I think has been on some kind of illegal drug for three days, “Asian guy with a splint on his right index finger,” and “Guy with the big King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard patch on his jacket.”

We started Day Three with some friends and great BBQ (as one does in Austin at least once where you’re here) at a place called KG BBQ that mixes Texas BBQ with Egyptian flavors. It’s great. We then headed to Hotel Vegas for the “Levitation Lounge,” where no one bothered to check out RSVP tickets, and we had free drinks while listening to a DJ set by Death Valley Girls.

I was wearing my “Death Valley Girls Official Fan Club” shirt and was spotted by Bonnie Bloomgarden, the leader of DVG. She remembered me as the guy who keeps his phone set on black and white and, in a moment of joy for me, from this blog. They’d opened for Osees the previous night there and I told her I was excited to hear their new “Earth, Wind & Fire-sized line-up” later that night at Parish.

My DVG shirt proved to be popular. I had more comments on it than any other shirt I’ve worn all weekend. At least four people pointed at me and said, “Great shirt,” and then told me how they’d seen their Hotel Vegas set the previous evening and were amazed by it.

The surprisingly tall Dry Cleaning walked in not long after my lovely conversation with Ms. Bloomgarden. I thanked them for their set at the Far Out Lounge the previous night, and they told me how much they love playing in Austin. They were all delightful people and played a fun DJ set of their own that dropped in some classic Sade and Wham! tracks.

We wanted to stay for the Black Angels DJ set, but it was Day Three and we needed a disco nap. It turned out to be the right call because Austin got slammed with rain for about an hour and we would’ve been soaked on the walk back to our pad.

We came back to Hotel Vegas to first see local shredders Grocery Bag take the stage, and they played a wild set of fierce garage rock. Be sure to look them up.

After that was night number three of Osees’ four-night residency at Hotel Vegas. They ripped into it straight out of the gate (as always) and immediately floored by girlfriend, who was seeing them for the first time. She was amazed by their manic energy and how “they just go for it.” They threw in some punk ragers with a couple psych-rock cuts, showing how they can change shape faster than a D&D doppelgänger.

We then walked six blocks along 6th Street, maneuvering around stumbling drunks and people still in Halloween costumes lining up to cram into a small club spinning overplayed dance tracks from the early 2000s, to get to Parish and see DVG perform their heart-lifting yet spooky set of psychedelia. It was strange at first to see them with no guitars (apart from Sammy Westervelt on bass), replacing them with saxophone. “They sound like a spooky version of Morphine,” I thought. My girlfriend loved them and empowerment and spiritual healing messages they convey in their lyrics.

We headed to the Parish’s small lounge after the set and another guy pointed out my DVG shirt. It turned out he and his friend were at KG BBQ and noticed my shirt there. They’d seen DVG’s Hotel Vegas set and fell in love with them. One of them, Shafiq, got my “spooky Morphine” reference, and they were both from Chicago and frequented a lot of the same bar. The other, Imran, had been at the same Slift and Meatbodies show I attended at Reggie’s Music Joint weeks earlier. We all bonded over Gen X bands and chai.

Wine Lips, whom Shafiq had seen before (“First tickets I bought.”) and described as “The Toronto Osees,” came out and just went nuts. That might be the best way I can describe their set of crazy garage-psych. It was damn impressive. They barely let you take a breath.

We stopped at a shawarma food truck on the way back, where I was again complimented on my DVG shirt, and then got back in time to settle down with my overflowing chicken and falafel wrap and watch the opening scenes of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. You can’t wrap up a festival day much better than that.

Up next, doom!

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Osees and Iguana Death Cult – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL – October 19, 2024

It was the second of two sold-out shows for Osees in what’s become an annual autumn tradition at Chicago’s Thalia Hall. The crowd was buzzing at the outset, and everyone knew a good, wild time was coming.

The party started with Iguana Death Cult, all the way from The Netherlands. I hadn’t heard of them until this night, and at first wasn’t sure what to make of them. Were they punk, funk, post-punk, post-funk, post-psych, pre-psych? I’m still not sure if I know, but I do know that they were a lot of fun, the songs were wild, and each one was better than the last.

The crowd was behind them all the way, and had a fun mosh pit going by the end of their set. I chatted with their lead singer, Jeron Reek, after the show, and he told me they’d played South by Southwest twice, and other clubs and events across the U.S. a few times, “but this was the best.”

Osees came out to a happy crowd and soon got underway with a no-frills, no muss, no fuss set of wild garage-psych that began with “I Come from the Mountain” and barely let up to give the mosh pit time to catch a breath.

No backdrop, no projections…just simple lights and heavy shredding.

As always, the band had enough energy to power a Formula 1 race car through 500 laps with double drummers Paul Quattrone and Dan Rincon leading the charge. “A Foul Form,” “Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster,” and “Animated Violence” had the front half of the crowd in a wild frenzy.

Lead singer and guitarist John Dwyer announced “Tidal Wave” as “an old one,” but everyone reacted like it was a brand new gift. He introduced “The Dream” as “Here’s a new one that nobody likes,” and the crowd proceeded to go bonkers.

“Warm Slime” was a great addition, and the night ended with two long psychedelic tracks, “C” and “Minotaur.” I love Osees’ longer psych-rock cuts, so I was digging it. I must, as always, give mention to Tom Dolas on keyboards and Tim Hellman on bass, who always keep the whole band grounded. Dolas is like a magician in the background putting in tones and sounds that would make the songs feel weird without them, and Hellman is one of the sturdiest bass workhorses in all rock music. That guy is solid all the time and never stumbles.

Both bands will be performing at Levitation Music Festival, with Osees doing a four-night residency at Hotel Vegas no less. Don’t miss either of them.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Thee Oh Sees – Live at Levitation (2012)

Thanks be to the Reverberation Appreciation Society for capturing Thee Oh Sees‘ first performance at the Levitation Music Festival back in 2012. As a result, we have Live At Levitation (2012). Thee Oh Sees / Oh Sees / OCS / OSees have since played Levitation many times, but this wild set featuring the band’s incarnation of Petey Dammit (bass), Brigid Dawson (keyboards, hand percussion, backing vocals), John Dwyer (lead guitar and vocals), Lars Finberg (drums), and Mike Shoun (drums) is a rare treat. They’d played in Austin, Texas (home of the Levitation festival) before, but not at the festival itself, so they were pumped.

It starts with one of their biggest fan-favorites, “The Dream,” and Dwyer’s guitar already sounds like it’s begging for mercy within the first few chords. Dammit’s bass on “Devil Again” (which is actually a guitar tuned to sound just like a bass) is relentless, and Dwyer sounds like he’s taking a belt sander to his guitar at one point.

The live version of “Tidal Wave” here is even faster than it normally sounds live, showing how amped the entire band was just three songs into their set. They take a moment or two to tune, and for everyone to take a couple deep breaths, before they stomp the gas pedal and launch into “Enemy Destruct,” sending the crowd into a wilder frenzy than just moments earlier.

You could almost call “Robber Barons” “Rubber Barons” because it has this slow bounce to it thanks to Dammit’s bass and Finberg and Shoun’s double-drumming that hits the heavy spots at just the right moments. The centerpiece is “Block of Ice,” which clocks in at over thirteen minutes in length and never relinquishes its groove. Dammit’s endurance on it is stunning, and every time you think the song has reached some kind of crescendo, Dwyer and his crew take it even further.

Dwyer assures the audience that he’s “mostly in tune” before they start the lively “Meat Step Lively,” which has this garage rock jangle to it that I love. The set ends with “Minotaur” and Dwyer singing about being stuck in the maze of a job that he hates but forces himself to wander through each day.

Then they’re off to “the Red Roof Inn” as they hand off the stage to Meat Puppets and The Brian Jonestown Massacre that year.

It’s a great addition to the “Live at Levitation” series and the Osees’ catalogue. Don’t miss it.

Keep your mind open.

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Top 25 live shows of 2022: #’s 10 – 6

It’s time for the top ten live shows I saw in 2022. These shows were mind-bending in multiple ways.

#10: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Levitation Austin / Stubb’s – October 29th

This was the second of two sold-out shows from KGATLW at Stubb’s. The line to get into this show stretched for almost three blocks. The crowd was fired up and the prolific psych-rock Aussies played everything from thrash metal to electro. It’s amazing that they can keep so many different types of songs in their heads.

#9: A Place to Bury Strangers – Chicago / Empty Bottle – May 30th

It’s always good to see APTBS. Their shows are like endurance workouts that push you into a runner’s high. This was the first time I saw them with the new lineup and they seemed even louder than they’d ever been. The Empty Bottle could barely contain them.

#8: Moon Duo – Levitation Austin / Feels So Good Records – October 30th

This was the loveliest show of the year, and the most hypnotizing. Playing in their “Lightship” projection box stage, Moon Duo would become lost in the light show that beamed from behind them, onto the screen around them, and into the audience. I’m not joking when I tell you it was trance-inducing. You had to be careful not to zone out and fall onto the floor.

#7: Osees – Levitation Austin / Hotel Vegas – October 28th

I’ve never seen Osees put on a bad show, and this one, albeit a shorter set than normal, was another solid performance. It was the second of their four-night residency at Austin’s Hotel Vegas, and the crowd was the perfect size – not so big you couldn’t stretch your arms, and not so small that you felt bad for the band. The weather was also about perfect. All you needed was a light coat, a hat, and a drink and you were ready for the mosh pit.

#6: Slift – Levitation Austin / Elysium – October 27th

This was the best set of the entire Levitation Austin festival last year. It was also the last show of Slift’s U.S. tour, and they unloaded everything they had left in the tank, and then borrowed from the audience’s tank, and then somehow still had enough to leave orbit. I was surprised Elysium was still standing afterwards. It spoiled us a bit for the rest of the weekend, because no one could top it.

Up next, the best five shows I saw last year, which include some legends.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Austin 2022 recap: Day Two

The second night of Levitation Austin 2022 started at Hotel Vegas. I hadn’t been to a show there since 2013 and was delighted to see the place hadn’t changed much. If anything, the outdoor stage area seemed a bit bigger.

Warm Drag were the first act we saw that night, putting on the sexiest show of the weekend with their blend of electro, fuzz, and spooky rock. Lead singer Vashti Windish owned the stage in her biker leather while percussionist / beat master Paul Quattrone got to work in his tank top. The crowd was hypnotized by them both by their set’s end.

Quattrone took a water break and then was back on stage with the rest of his Osees bandmates for the second night of their four-night residency at Hotel Vegas. They came out swinging, blasting through a lot of tracks in just an hour. Their raging punk set of material from their new album, A Foul Form, left the audience breathless multiple times.

We left Hotel Vegas for Elysium to catch the rare performance by The UFO Club – a sort of supergroup consisting of members of Night Beats and The Black Angels, who performed their (so far) only album from beginning to end. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to hear those songs live, so this set was one of the highlights of the festival for me.

The night ended with Mexican psych-rock legends Los Dug Dug’s. They played a fun blend of psych, surf, and border rock.

Up next would be a trio of Australian bands and doom metal in a blues bar.

Keep your mind open.

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Top 30 albums of 2021: #’s 10 – 6

Here we are at the top ten albums I reviewed last year. Who made the cut? Check it out below here.

#10: Liam Kazar – Due North

The songwriting on Due North is outstanding. That, and Kazar’s piano and guitar work, put him up there with Lindsey Buckingham and Joe Jackson in my opinion. This was one of the brightest spots of a gloomy year.

#9: The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings

This double-album is one of the most beautiful records about death that you’ve ever heard. It’s grand, glorious, and resonant after a year when all of us lost someone – either within our own homes, across the street, or on the other side of the globe.

#8: Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg

It’s no coincidence that Dry Cleaning’s first proper U.S. tour sold out at nearly every stop. They’re the queen and kings of British post-punk right now, and New Long Leg – their first full-length album – is a great follow-up to their multiple EPs (all of which were also excellent).

#7: Osees – Levitation Sessions II

The second Levitation Sessions album from Osees was somehow wilder than the first. Livestreaming it in our home at loud volume during lockdown was a blissful escape for the entire time. The set included plenty of deep cuts, including multiple Chrome covers.

#6: Osees – The Chapel, SF 10.2.19

Recorded during their set night at The Chapel music venue in San Francisco, and just before the pandemic shut down touring for everyone everywhere, this live album is one of Osees’ best. It captures the chaos of their shows, highlights some of their prog-rock love, and served as a reminder to stay healthy and take care of each other so we could get back to seeing concerts again.

Who tops the list? You’ll find out tomorrow!

Keep your mind open.

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