Osees - Protean Threat Review
This might be one of the best Osees albums, but with 23 albums to compete with it will always be a difficult contest to pick the best one
Protean Threat is the latest album from John Dwyer and Osees. This is the 23rd studio album from the band, standing as one of the most interesting. Thematically speaking, this album carries undertones of political distrust and social change. This is the first studio album since last year's mammoth release Face Stabber. Although, with the prolific rate at which Dwyer writes, I’m sure we should expect an exceptional number of releases in 2021 due to his lack of touring in 2020.
The opening track to this album, titled ‘Scramble Suit II’, might be the most explosive of any album I’ve heard from this year. The music itself summarises the borderline anxiety that this record is set to induce. Dwyer somehow makes the guitars on this track sound like trumpets, beckoning you in with their jittery fanfare. The track ‘Dreary Nonsense’ has guitars harmonising with each other in a way that’s reminiscent of fan favourite ‘Toe Cutter / Thumb Buster’. And lyrically, Dwyer speaks of oppression and manipulation; playing with the theme by talking about ‘Gurgling through the backdoor entrance of your mind, Infecting and duplicating, The covert washing of your mind’.
I love the drums at the start of ‘Upbeat Ritual’. Dwyer’s vocals are definitely their most audible on this record which is rare but pleasantly surprising for an Osees album. I get the impression through his lyricism that when Dwyer sings ‘We refuse to study mortal killing all the time’, he is referring to recent horrific events in America and his distaste towards them. ‘Red Study’ grabs you with its thick bass tones and droning guitar sounds. There’s a goofiness to this song, especially in the vocal delivery from Dwyer. You can’t help but feel the fun this band has jamming out to these parts. The guitar solo towards the end of this track has this undeniable funk to it. ‘Terminal Jape’ is definitely one of the most exciting tracks on record. With it’s fuzzy bass tones and Dwyer’s distorted vocals you really feel that Dwyer and company are reaching a great level of creativity on this record. Dwyer, not one I would identify as renowned for his vocals, is absolutely destroying the microphone in this track. And it could not work better.
The spacious synth sounds at the start of ‘Wing Run’ lead into a peculiar musical scale. The guitars that come in over this scale really make this track but unfortunately this one feels a little underdeveloped compared to those that preceded it. However, the track works as a nice segue into the following ‘Said the Shovel’ which has some really memorable moments. The jaded organ sounds and scratchy guitars that go over it really give this track some more of that anxious energy that is prolific throughout this record.
‘Mizmuth’ has one of the best riffs on the record. The crunchy guitar tones at the start swiftly double up and generate this forceful energy to drive the track. ‘If I Had My Way’ could be featured on a Tarantino soundtrack, in fact when we had the pleasure of speaking to John Dwyer he told us that he would love to do soundtrack work — so Tarantino please call.
‘Toadstool’ opens with some quite jaded guitars wobbling in and out of each other but soon turns in to this weird and wonderful squeaking synth driven tune. When the thicker guitar tones come in midway through the track you can really feel the head-banging energy of this tune. ‘Gong of Catastrophe’ is one of the standout tracks. With its opening moody bass tones and what sounds almost like microtonal guitar tones throughout, this track very quickly picks up a groove that seems to have run throughout the whole record. Dwyer’s vocals on this album are truly some of his most singalong-able. Not only this, but the riffs are at their most catchy on this latter portion of the record and rarely do you feel like anything is out of place on this album.
‘Canopnr '74’ is a cool track and feels fitting towards the end of this record with its sporadic synth stabs almost mirroring the fanfare feeling of the opening track. Lyrically, you can’t help but be drawn into the frustration that Dwyer strives to convey on this track, almost as if he is arguing with someone given the way he switches up you’re to I’m in the last verse. This penultimate track could have actually been a great finish to this record. However, the last track on this record ‘Persauders Up!’ to many extents summarises the record as an ultimate culmination of its themes and sonic components. With funky guitar riffs and all-round tight production, not to mention palpable energy and obvious performance talent, it’s a fitting end to what is a really solid effort from Osees.
This is a remarkable album. Osees’ lyrical content on this record is definitely some of their most political and thematically resonant, with each track contributing to the album’s ideological zeitgeist in its own way. The production and performances for this record are undoubtedly next level, even from a band with such an extensive repertoire at their back. They’re an essential cornerstone of modern psychedelic rock and post-punk. This might be one of the best Osees albums, but with 23 albums to compete with it will always be a difficult contest to pick the best one; either way, this is undoubtedly a really fun, politically conscious and surprisingly groovy record that rewards multiple listens as well as it rewards the first time through.
