Hi, everyone. Giggthony Enstano here, the internet's second busiest music nerd. We're here today for a review of the brand new Osees album, Sorcs 80.

The Osees are a band out of Southern California, and they blend psychedelic rock, garage rock, and a little bit of punk to create this super unique sound. They've been doing this for over 25 years now, and Sorcs 80 is their 29th album.

This may be a long shot, and bear with me here, but I'm pretty sure Sorcs 80 is a concept album, a sci-fi rock concept album. So many songs on this record follow sci-fi-esque themes like aliens, alien abduction, possibly a werewolf or a vampire, feelings of isolation or loneliness. There's also not one guitar on this album, which is fascinating because they make the guitar sounds through these samplers they hit with drumsticks. And that fuzzy element, combined with the analog instruments, creates this high anxiety tension that just grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go the entire time.

Opening track, "Look at the Sky", has the best use of one, two, three, four that I've heard in recent memory. It's loud, it's brash, it's a little spacy, and those gruff vocals are screaming for their life. This one to me, sounds like the start of the album. This one sounds like someone's getting abducted by aliens, and they're screaming for their life. As you're being raised up to the ship, you have to accept that you're being raised up to this ship, but it's also hard to accept the oncoming reality of leaving Earth and what might be in front of you.

"Pixelated Moon" is one of my favorites on the record, and this one for me continues that alien theme, potentially involving a werewolf or a vampire. The line "Suck on the vein full of mutant slop" drives home that biting aspect of a vampire. But maybe there's some aliens that have vampire-esque qualities. We don't know.

"The Graveyard Bop" does sound like the best Halloween dance party of all time. I love the computery sound effects, the fuzz feeling throughout this entire thing and the overall tense atmosphere.

Up next is "Drug City". And this song for me is either about the aliens having injected you with something and you have to accept what this stuff is inside you and how to get out of that, or it's actually about a bad drug trip. This is a straight up fuzzy garage rocker, something the Sonics would have absolutely nailed back in the day, right down to those chugging saxophones in the background. Lyrically for me on this song, it's like no matter how deep in the hole you are, you can try to convince yourself as much as possible to get out of that hole, but no matter what you're doing, you're still stuck in that hole. The vocals on this thing soar over that rhythm section so maniacally. I love how the song lets itself breathe at the end to experiment and search around.

Also, "The Gorilla" is one of the grooviest songs on the album, and this one for me escapes the trappings of being a human. What would your life be like if you were a gorilla? No job, no rat race, just doing gorilla things all day. The "what's up" refrain is super catchy, and the vocals on this one are a lot more subdued compared to the last few songs, which is nice to give it some dynamics. The shuffle drums are hypnotic, and the song builds in just the right places. It allows itself to breathe, and for me, it's one of the best songs on the album.

"Termination Officer" follows that one next, and we're right back into that super-heavy fuzz rock. Drums that are ready to pounce, a growling low-end fuzz, and really expressive saxophones. The repetitive chorus, for me, feels like the main character is experiencing this new world of uneasiness, and that repetition drives home the point of how uncomfortable it is. That is, if you're following along with this potential sci-fi concept album I'm bringing up here, if I'm wrong, please correct me in the comments, but also don't, because this is fun for me.

Up next is the wonderful song "Blimp", which is one of my favorites on the record, and features a line that could have been a great album title, "The Tedium of Helium". Is it literally about being a blimp? Is it a continuation of "Drug City"? Has this main character been so doped up that they think they're flying above a city? Are they a blimp? Is it just about being a blimp? Osees, tell us!

This song just shreds so hard. I love it.

I'm going to butcher how to pronounce this, but potentially "Cochon D'Argent". That's the next song on the record here, and the choppy guitar-esque riffs on this thing are so infectious. It's one of the most abrasive songs on the record, and lyrically, it's like really digging deep at somebody, like trying to rip someone apart. It is just a constant tour de force of high anxiety and shredding. It's one of those songs, like if you want something at the gym that's going to get you hyped up, throw this one on or put it on two or three times in a row. You'll be running miles.

"Cassius, Brutus, and Judas" is one of the most '60s-esque riffs they've made so far. The main rip on this thing blends really well with those saxophones, and that propulsive drum beat underneath just clues it all together.

We follow all of this up with "Zipper", and this track for me is about breaking humans down to their core, demonstrating that by design, they're a faulty species, but also amazing. This song literally sounds like as if aliens were studying humans. They've abducted this person, they're observing what they do, and maybe they're watching the rest of the human race at the same time in this concept album I've created. It's got a poppy delivery, which is nice because at this point in the album, things have been pretty heavy, bar for the grooviness of a couple of songs. It's nice to have that change up because when you get to things like that super joyous Come on, Come on chorus, how can you deny how fun that is?

"Lear's Ears" is the next track on this album, and I love that hi-hat and shuffle rhythm. I'm a sucker for that stuff. Perfectly splashy washes of cymbal. Vocally, it's a little more relaxed and spacy, which creates a a psychedelic feel. Lyrically, I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what exactly the song is about. Is it about a family that's been around so long it's like moss growing on a rock? Is the family the human race? What are we talking about here? What are these aliens up to?

"Earthling" is the next song on here, which also was a single, and it's one of my favorites on the album. It's got this anthemic, epic chorus. It's one of those things it's going to go down really well live in concert. I'm taking it as the human armies have no chance against the alien armies, but the normal humans who aren't part of the human armies are cool with the new alien overlords and being like, All right, well, this isn't too bad. The aliens know that and understand that and are cool with the normal humans, but not with the army humans. The vocal delivery on this thing is super dramatic, and I love the movie-esque quality the song itself has. The saxophones get a great time to shine. The tom tom drums are having the time of their life on this thing. Probably one of the more accessible songs on record, no matter how far out the lyrics are.

Up next is "Plastics", and lyrically, I feel like it's a pretty sad song: dying at your job, getting pushed to the side and being replaced. Something that's either a song about how management doesn't care for you or maybe the government doesn't care for you. I'm not sure where this falls into place in my sci-fi rock concept album storyline here, but it feels like a modern day punk protest song. The song explains what's wrong with what's going on, but gives you the energy and the drive to make things change.

The last song on the record is easily one of the most interesting tracks as well, "Neo-Clone". This one for me feels like how aliens or maybe just casual humans observe other humans. It's almost like people just do the same thing and always have. Musically, again, the toms take a journey, and I feel like vocally, it's a little Devo-esque, which I'm digging. Again, maybe this is from the point of view of the aliens where they're like, Can we change these Earthlings? What can we do with them? There's a chant that goes, "Kicking at the gods" again at the end of the song, and it's almost as if the aliens or maybe just the person in the middle of the song as a human is like, Can we change things? Can we make things different? Why do things have to be this way all the time? What can we do?

Sorks 80 really is a fascinating listen with enough dynamics and left turns to keep your head scratching and wondering what's coming next. Is it a concept album about aliens? Maybe. Is it a cohesive theme of ideas and thoughts about isolation and loneliness and exploration? Yeah, probably. Whether it's a concept album or not, Sorks 80 really is a wild ride. It's fun, it's energetic, it's going to get your attention.

These songs get to the point and then make you think about that point long after the song is over. I'm feeling a strong seven to a light eight on this album.

Anthony Fantano. Osees. The Forever.