July 26 2023 - A Foul Form

Unlike my last entry about Toon Time Raw!, this is an album that has been on repeat for months now. I took a small break from it, but just recently it crossed my mind again and planted its seed super deep into my brain. For good reason too. Osees' album, A Foul Form feels like a love letter to hardcore punk and metal bands that served as influence to a large audience of budding musicians. It's anti-establishment as fuck, grimy, and doesn't take itself too seriously. 

Osees' founder, John Dwyer, makes some really cool creative decisions for the vocals on this album. He'll switch between a bunch of different styles that I can't really explain since I'm a poser and don't have that much of a frame of reference for this genre >.<. It's really clear what I mean if you check out the differences between the tracks Scum Show and Too Late for Suicide. 

The shift in vocals mirrors the change of tone in the arrangements as well. This is one of my go-to warm up albums when I jump on my kit, and I think it's super fucking cool how the previously mentioned Too Late for Suicide breaks the aggressive, in your face style of drumming into a bouncy kind of drumming that you really have to relax and lay yourself into. The album is littered with loud noise and screechy feedback that transitions songs into one another and adds a unique texture that I feel the album would suffer without. Sometimes it's challenging to the ears and it was somewhat of a shock to me on first listen, but I've fallen in love with it since.

It's a short album, clocking in at 22 minutes. Each song is on average about 2 minutes long. It presents its idea and makes sure not to overstay its welcome. A very nice change of pace for my withering attention span. Check it out if it at all sounds interesting to you. The energy is wonderful. 

Fav tracks: