Weird story to tell you. So, there I was walking home, it was late and the streets were deserted. All of a sudden, this car screams to a halt beside me and three people jump out grab me and throw me in the boot of the car. Now I find myself in a derelict building tied to a chair with this laptop in front of me. I’ve been told I have to write a review for the debut album from Queens band Os Overdoses. They say the album is called All Killers! No Feelers! and I’m not getting untied. I’ve to type with my nose.
My captors are Janet, Joey and Johnny, three low-life scoundrels from Forest Hills, Queens who are currently exiled in Morto., Portugal, having been pursued by the feds for years due to charges of corrupting the American youth and inciting violent crime.
These days, they tend to channel their psychopathic tendencies in old school rock n’ roll riffing, creepy droning, terrifying lyrics about their experience in the underbelly of organized crime and drum machine rhythms in the place where their former drummers (who have disappeared under mysterious circumstances) used to be. They’re probably dead.
Apparently, I will be too if this review doesn’t kick ass so I best get to it.
The album opens on lead single and statement of intent ‘Fall Guy For Murder’. Programmed lead into a scuzzy and hypnotic guitar riff that layers up to create a mesmerising drone. The title chanted like a cultist’s prayer is as hooky as it gets. “She is going to kill” however is the line I find myself chanting along to. The punky guitar solo to close is the only fitting way to bookend this opening salvo.
‘Grave Business’ maintains that aesthetic of a 50’s doo wop band on meth. It’s a downright dirty sounding track and if you’re not at least tapping your foot along withing a few seconds you must be dead inside. I wouldn’t let the band catch you or you probably will be. I couldn’t help but smile at the nod to ‘Surfin Bird’ as well.
The terrible trio are back at their hypnotic game on ‘Hey Man’. Opening like a lost Nuggets track it grows into a potent garage rock stomper swathed in a multi coloured psychedelic cape. That cyclical guitar riff is the perfect foil to the cosmic modular sounds going off in the background. The vocals get downright threatening at one point which is most apt from my captors. Amazing what can be achieved with two chords and a ton of attitude.
The band lighten things up with ‘Practical Choke’. The programmed beats are augmented with a cool Casio tone synth motif that creates a hook which permeates the whole song. The guitar solo wig out is potent but, unusually, isn’t placed up front in the mix. This really appeals to me as a shoegazer.
The pace drops ever so slightly for the casual swagger through ‘Dead Ringer’. Whilst they maintain that hypnotic two chord approach in the verses, the chorus is a joyous and uplifting sing along. If the band pull a second single from the album, I’d steer them towards this one, that is, if they didn’t have me tied to a chair.
Our anti-heroes are in ebullient form on ‘From Here To Insanity’. Those boy girl vocals playing off each other over a fuzzed-up rock ‘n’ roll opus. I’m amazed how they manage to make each song sound fresh and vital whilst maintain that droning signature vibe. Ther energy levels only get more amped as the song continues, more musical layers joining the throng.
‘Creep In The Deep’ is a sprawling psyche rock jam with some 50’s surf rock touches in that opening section. It’s soon heads down and a slowly intensifying jam takes us home. This will undoubtedly be absolutely electric when seen live.
The album closes out on ‘Rain of Ruin’ which opens like some lost 13th Floor Elevators track, well, if they had a Casio keyboard as a drummer! Guitars come in ten feet tall and dominate from the outset. The bass riff (that is a bass riff, right?) is the essence of cool. If a riff could swagger in, this would be that one. Vocals sway from low growls to high yelps and punctuate the sonic storm. This is undoubtedly my album highlight and the perfect way to end this album and kidnapping.
If ever there was a great snapshot of a band finding and defining there sound it’s All Killers! No Feelers!. There’s a solid pulsing thread of psyche and garage rock throughout that Os Overdoses have formed their musical weapons from. You are going to love this album. You better, If you don’t, you too might find yourself where I am now. Remember Os Overdoses know where you live.
All Killers! No Feelers! will be released via Socorro Records for EU orders, Dirty Filthy Records for UK orders and Echodelick Records in the US on February 10th.
You can follow Os Overdoses on social media here…
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