Oh Sees (formerly Thee Oh Sees, OCS, The Ohsees, and The Oh Sees) played to a full house at one of Cambridge’s most popular venues and transformed an average weeknight into a headbanging evening of amicable mosh pits and neck injuries. Two months after the release of their most recent album 

, Oh Sees have shown that even after 20+ years of activity, they are still loved enough by the Boston area to sell out a Wednesday night show.

L.A. dwellers Prettiest Eyes blessed the stage first wearing black turtlenecks, sporting bolo ties, and dripping with a mysterious aura that silenced the room. Momentarily stunned by the three piece that resembled an Arizonian Manson Family, a growing crowd eagerly awaited to hear what was going to come of the unusual combination of only drums, bass, and keyboard. The trio opened with the song “en Español,” which according to frontman/drummer Pachy García is “about impeaching the President.” Prettiest Eyes were not there to cause a political stir, but rather to speak their minds and have a damn fun time doing so.

The initially still crowd appeared to be on the same page as the front half began to jump and show inklings of a mosh pit, a considerable feat for an opening act. The band then presented a set that blended experimental punk with aggressive psychedelia and even new-wave popiness at times. Their unusual yet intriguing brand of sound was largely constructed by keyboardist Paco Casanova, whose effects pedalboard, filled with delays and noise generators, gave him the appearance of a musical Willy Wonka by the way he experimented with such poise and enjoyment. Their set was truly a mixed bag; one song would be a slow, mysterious seduction and the next would be an explosion of almost unintelligible sounds, very similar to the night’s headliners.

After Prettiest Eyes had disappeared with smiles and “thank you”s, Oh Sees promptly began to set up their own equipment. The band’s stage plot was stunning in itself with two twin drum sets front and center and lead singer/guitarist John Dwyer’s rig humbly set up on the far left of the stage. Although the group did not appear to be fully set up, drummers Paul Quattrone and Dan Rincon started a triumphant beat in perfect unison that lead into a short lyric-less jam. This warranted a hearty applause, but Dwyer then admitted they were only doing an impromptu soundcheck as they had just arrived from Canada after oversleeping. He then dove head-first into “I Come From the Mountain” which had the crowd laughing with childlike excitement, followed by the chaotic “The Static God.”

Although Oh Sees have a knack for extended jams and switching up song forms, their live sound almost perfectly emulated the one constructed in the studio. This was largely due to Dwyer’s signature screaming glass guitar and his tendency to engulf the entire microphone head in his mouth when yelling. His undying energy while wearing his unusually signature grey shorts and a striped red shirt gave him the appearance of an adult Charlie Brown having a temper tantrum. Dwyer’s goblin-like aggression on classic Oh Sees stompers like “Toe Cutter/Thumb Buster” and “The Dream” was balanced by a quick and polite “thank you” after each song, followed immediately by band members turning their watchful eyes as they waited for a command from the frontman as to what the next song would be.

This boisterous aggression and passion was shared by the whole band as each member was profusely sweating by the third song, especially drummers Quattrone and Rincon. The way in which they orchestrated cooperative drum beats and fills in such unison, while keeping a consistent energy for over an hour, showed that being a drummer for Oh Sees is equivalent to having a gym membership and using it daily. There were multiple instances throughout the show where the grooving dexterity from both drummers cohered with the natural rhythm of the mosh pit of passionate fans below that created a true sense of musical allure; the stars aligned in the realm of performance.

The quintet ended the evening with an extended jam version of “Encrypted Bounce” which realistically felt to be nearly fifteen minutes. It was a frankly strange selection to close the set with given that the track is not extremely popular in the band’s discography. Nevertheless, transitions in the song from quiet experimental moments into built-up head banging snippets kept the crowd on its toes until the final moments of the night.

After the band had expended every last ounce of energy on the jam and said goodnight, it seemed almost comical when about thirty passionate fans stayed and requested an encore while the crowd thinned out. Understandably, they were quickly shut down as the lights came on and Oh Sees’ sweat-drenched equipment was packed away.

Oh Sees @ The Sinclair

The self proclaimed “last rockstar” has returned to the charts. Liam Gallagher’s sophomore album 

 displays the abrasive energy that fans have known for 25 years with a growing sense of maturity. The former Oasis frontman has long been known for being rude, drinking excessively, and punching photographers, but since the release of his debut solo album 

 in 2017, Gallagher has demonstrated a greater appreciation for life. Now that Gallagher is no longer trying to impress the world, he has freed himself from expectations and, as a result, has delivered a confident yet comfortable record.

The album’s lead single “Shockwave” introduces the album as a guitar-heavy stomper dripping with Gallagher’s classic swagger. Although the energy of “Shockwave” could bring a venue’s ceiling to the floor, lyrics such as “You’re gonna burn until you behave, hey maybe the shame will open your eyes” demonstrate Gallagher’s growing maturity and self-realization about his behavioral flaws of the past. Rather than keep this initial energy alive after the lead track, Gallagher mellows out with heartfelt songs like “One of Us,” “Now That I’ve Found You,” and “Once,” a ballad that captures Gallagher’s regrets in life along with his newfound attitude of making the most out of his one shot at life. While it can be off-putting to hear Gallagher’s snarling voice against a background of delicate strings and pianos, this is where his heart truly reveals itself. The singer tweeted about the track, “Once is one of the best songs I’ve ever had the pleasure to be part of, and believe you me I’ve sang on many a great tune. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.”

The album includes many Beatles-esque songs, which makes sense given Gallagher’s lifelong fascination with John Lennon. Oasis were often criticized for trying to sound like the Beatles and even “borrowing” very heavily from them, and the obsession never quite died, only transformed into a more subtle and manageable force. Gallagher even named the album after two of John Lennon’s drawings that he owns, “Why Me?” and “Why Not.” This inspiration is apparent in tracks like “Now That I’ve Found You,” “Halo,” “Meadow,” and “Alright Now,” but Gallagher still explores different realms outside of his Lennon fetish. The late-album track “Gone,” for instance, exudes an Old American Western aroma akin to the early work of fellow Brits, The Last Shadow Puppets.

 is a solid and fan-friendly sophomore effort, Gallagher’s obvious love for the Beatles holds him back from being truly free as a songwriter. And while the fact that he was never the primary songwriter for Oasis gives Gallagher somewhat of a “free pass” for relying so heavily on his inspirations, he must step out of his comfort zone with his next work in order to stay fresh. Although fairly new to his solo career, this leads one to wonder if it’s too late for Gallagher to find a sound that is truly his own. Regardless of what the future holds, Liam Gallagher now has two solid solo albums under his belt and is growing wiser, happier, and more confident in his own abilities each year. As you were, LG.

Liam Gallagher’s newest effort is restrained and made for fans

Barely a year after the release of the highly analytical 

, Father John Misty has returned to preach, and he’s a lot less pissed off this time around. 

 allowed Father John to deliver his sermons of human criticism all over the world in a theatrical fashion, but since then he’s taken a stride back from concept albums and given birth to the self-produced 

Josh Tillman poured all of the glorious parts of his heart out through his curated holy figure to express the love within him, while 

 contrasted that love with his hatred for the faults of society. With 

Tillman has somehow combined both of these ideas to make love the target in his crosshairs rather than the bullet. Some unknown explosion in Tillman’s life caused him to pull a reverse Bon Iver: rather than taking to a cabin in the woods for isolation, he ended up residing in a comfortable hotel for two months. After being holed up in what most would consider luxury, Father John Misty had clearly been visited by some personal demons and done some serious self reflection, and he is now focused on his own faults and imperfections rather than ranting about the impurities of general human nature.

Although there are some common themes throughout the record, the tracks on the album don’t seem to be directly intertwined with one another in any way. The idea that this is a traditional ‘concept-free’ album is solidified by the premiere track ‘Hangout at the Gallows.’ The lack of introduction paired with the immediate presence of Misty’s voice submerge you right into what feels like the middle of the album; I found myself checking to make sure I didn’t accidentally have the record playing on shuffle. While the track serves a purpose of letting the listener know that there will not be a concrete thematic path followed through the album, its function is slightly lost within the lack of a ‘wow’ factor that a great album opener typically has; ‘Gallows’ is a bit of a sleeper and may have benefitted from being placed later on in the tracklist.

However, in lowering expectations with the album’s introduction, Misty replies to himself with the substantial and infectiously catchy first single ‘Mr. Tillman.’ This track serves as a blended analysis of both Tillman himself and his Father John Misty character, as it seems as though the two entities are becoming more and more indistinguishable. In delivering confusingly casual lines like “Just a reminder about our policy, don’t leave your mattress in the rain if you sleep on the balcony,” Misty combines the anecdotal humor reminiscent of his 2012 debut 

 with the developed musical elegance that he’s curated on his previous two albums. The track serves as an ode to an idea that has become oddly popular in today’s society: many things are going wrong, but let’s pretend everything is fine. In the somber ‘Just Dumb Enough to Try,’ he even breaks out the millennial mantra “Everything’s cool, I’m great, it’s fine” cradled in a bed of melancholy yet hopeful words. This idea of ignoring reality shines through in ‘Mr. Tillman’ when a concierge at Misty’s hotel palace suggests “Perhaps you shouldn’t drink alone” and he immediately jumps into a chorus of “I’m feeling good, damn, I’m feeling so fine, I’m living on a cloud above an island in my mind.” Numbing reality can be an amazing temporary solution, but anyone who has done it knows that there can and will be an eventual implosion.

Tillman ends up facing the reality of pain in ‘Please Don’t Die’ which lyrically is the Hyde to ‘Mr. Tillman’s’ Jekyll. Misty wakes up and sings of missing his wife, saying that a morning without holding her is a morning wasted. He has clearly suffered some sort of mental shatter that has put him in this lonely hotel room, and he is fearful of worrying the one who cares about him most: his wife. Against the casual antics brought about in ‘Mr. Tillman,’ this track serves to display the seriousness of Misty’s condition and that his isolation is not just a ‘funny situation that will make for good music’; the situation is the life of a man with a wife who is worried about his growing isolation. This somberness bleeds into songs like ‘The Palace’ in which he portrays his seemingly luxurious hotel as a shelter of dark mystery as he admits he is ready to face reality and return home, as well as the album’s title track that is slightly less substantial, but is accompanied by a heavenly hymn-like chorus that is lyrically beautiful (“Speak to me, won’t you speak, sweet angel?”), sounding like an angelic child of John Lennon’s ‘(Just Like) Starting Over.’

My quick, singular Beatle reference reminds me of a reviewer’s cliche on this album. A slew of lazy reviewers have noted the album is “Beatles-esque” simply based on the fact that Misty uses a piano and slap back-delayed vocals on most tracks. I guess the album must also be very “Chuck Berry-esque” too since there’s a guitar somewhere in there, incredibly “Elvis-esque” since he’s a man that sings words into a microphone, right? But I digress. The main reference to the “Beatles-esque” sound most likely points to one of the album’s most thematically substantial tracks, ‘Disappointing Diamonds Are the Rarest of Them All.’ It serves as a true savior from the preceding musical dreariness, but also contains one of the most pungently brutal perspectives found on the record. Here, Misty brings up the increasing rarity of true love; not the fake image of lasting “true love” that is so often portrayed in movies and on modern lovers’ social media accounts, but true eternal love, a love that he questions if he even has in his own marriage. He compares his own love to “a pervert on a crowded bus” and “a constant twitching in [his] eye,” two things that have a dreaded presence and leave people waiting for them to be gone. From an outside perspective, one may question why he would ever write such a song unless he was (not so) secretly wishing for a divorce. However, he could very well be acknowledging that he really 

 have true love with his wife, and that the spectacle of true love is not as pretty as it is displayed to be; a disappointing diamond may be much rarer than the typical facade of a diamond that is forcibly beautiful, but it has more integrity and honesty.

 gives listeners a more personal look at the internal struggles of Father John Misty rather than a glimpse at his wonderful love life or his opinions on the downfall of society. He paints an image that leaves us and himself perplexed and questioning the rarity of true lasting love.

Father John Misty releases full-length ‘God’s Favorite Customer’

[three_fourth]It’s almost effortless to hate him. Like a pimple before prom, Liam Gallagher’s presence is usually never a wanted occurrence. The former Oasis frontman is notorious for being one of the most arrogant bastards the music scene has ever witnessed. In the years following Oasis’s breakup in 2009, it seemed that Gallagher only opened his mouth to unreasonably criticize others (most notably, his brother and former bandmate Noel) or remind the public of his glory days in an attempt to grasp onto his dwindling relevance. However, after three years since the split of Beady Eye (the group formed by remaining Oasis members after Noel departed in 2009), Gallagher has opened his mouth with the intent of delivering something other than trash. His first solo record 

 was released on October 6, and is already on track to salvage his relevance in the world of music.

In being a firm hater of Liam as a human being but a lover of his past work, I was conflicted just before the release of the album’s lead single, ‘Wall of Glass.’ I was prepared to hate it. I was eager to rip it apart. But I couldn’t stop replaying the damn thing over and over.

‘Wall of Glass’ introduces the return of Liam Gallagher with a pulsing snare beat that truly stimulates; the kind that evokes images of a dark arena performance where the pounding bass is palpable from the back of the venue. After years of vocal abuse and decreasing range, Liam has shown that his attitude now has something to back up: his voice. The snarl in his presentation grabs you by the face, spits in it, and walks away arrogantly before you can muster up a response. Quite accurately, Gallagher told 

 that ‘Wall of Glass’ is “an absolute stomper.” This energy that creates a contracted sense of arrogance is fueled by other “stompers” like ‘Greedy Soul,’ ‘I Get By,’ and ‘Come Back to Me’ where Liam capitalizes on the opportunity to express his rockstar prowess. The whine and grit in his voice re-establishes one of the primary building blocks of rock and roll: imperfection. For a true rock star, talent’s contribution to music is nothing without an equal amount of supplementary attitude and passion, and Gallagher nails down this principle with one-liners like, “I got the Midas Touch” and “I hope you go to hell.” Although the musical composition heard on these tracks is not exceptionally intricate or dangerous, 

 contains a healthy blend of cooperating guitar parts that stay true to typical rock music while forming interesting relationships between instruments. The marriage of a rolling bass line, a swinging drum groove in a 6/8 time signature, and a seemingly familiar chord progression in the latter half of ‘I Get By’ creates the feeling of speeding across the ocean in a motorboat at sunset while the wind pulls your skin back.

Although the album is rich with attitude and grit, Gallagher seizes half of the twelve-track listing with the goal of showing his sentimental side. He does so most notably in the four-minute apology ‘For What It’s Worth’ by admitting, “I’m sorry for the hurt, I’ll be the first to say I’ve made my own mistakes.” It is indiscernible who exactly Liam is apologizing to; is it the array of celebrities he’s called “knobheads” and “tw*ts”? His string of illegitimate children? His two ex-wives? The collection of paparazzi he’s socked in the face throughout the years? Perhaps it’s a collective admittance to all. Regardless, the notoriously childish Gallagher has finally grown some balls and taken a four minute slice of responsibility for his antics. 

(To avid Oasis fans and anyone who knows anything about Liam Gallagher, one thing is unfortunately almost certain: none of this apology was meant for Noel.)

Liam explores ways in which solemn beauty can be expressed through music with the simplicity of the beautiful ‘Chinatown’ and the Bowie-esque acoustic guitar in ‘Paper Crown’ paired with alluring harmonies and falsetto flares. This elegance comes as a bit of a shock from the man who nearly stuck a BRIT award trophy up his ass in 1996, but shows a significant development in his character as well as a sense of creative independence from past collaborators. With Noel writing a majority of Oasis’s songs, Liam never had much room for original expression back then. The album comes to a close with ‘I’ve All I Need’ which expresses appreciation and a sense of closure for both the album itself and Gallagher’s possible unwillingness to let go of his height of fame. With lines like “There’s no time for looking back, thanks for all your support,” he suggests that he’s found a chance to move on from his passed heyday of success by being able to appreciate it without attempting to recreate it. As the album comes to a close, it is quite believable when Liam repeats “I’ve all I need and more” with a quiet sense of satisfaction.

 displays a stellar collage of attitude, sentiment, arrogance, apology, hate, and love, splattered by a chaotic artist who is in the midst of a personal change. The album is evidence that a rock star still exists, a rock star who has shown steps in the direction of not being labeled a cynical washup. I hate to admit it, but I sincerely hope that this is not the last we see of Liam Gallagher.

Jason Ebbs