Hoboken is the location of the first recorded game of baseball and the source of all things Oso Oso. Fronted by State Lines’ Jonathan DiMitri, the pulsing easiness of the music speaks for itself. They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but you can be judge and jury when it comes to album names. And I have fallen in love with this one. Oso Oso’s new album ‘Real Stories of True People Who Kind of Looked Like Monsters’ has a delicate flow of traceability running throughout. It’s simple, but feels like a really well thought out album.

‘Where You’ve Been Hiding’ is definitely a front runner from this album. The song is soaked in pretty guitars and stinging melodies, the likes of which, I haven’t heard in quite some time. The idea of this song is perfect and lyrically it compels you to have done this all before, while the simple story and ease of the vocals make for some easy summer listening.

Oso Oso really have created a seasonal collage of the most wonderfully relatable songs. ‘Josephine’ has a real temperate approach to a poppy testament of heartbreak. The song itself works just fine, but the combination of voice and guitars on it could have been tweaked a little. It’s just all a little too treble laden. But on the upside it does lead quite seamlessly into ‘Interlude’, which does exactly what it says on the tin. The track is a calming flow of words into your subconscious and is most definitely the easiest listening on the album.

The album as a whole works so well. Oso Oso have harnessed the combination of simplicity and amazingly pretty melodies, which can’t really be faulted. Perhaps the attention to detail throughout the record is what makes it feel so genuine. ‘This Must Be A Place’, ‘This Must Be An Entrance’ and ‘This Must Be My Exit’ are the final three tracks, and they show that words and fluidity are obviously important to the band. It’s nice to realise that this is a whole idea. ‘This Must Be My Exit’ feels like a backyard performance song and the acoustic ballad ties the album up perfectly. It is a testament to their style and range. Stories of True People Who Kind of Looked Like Monsters’ could be a surprise contender for album of the summer and is well worth a listen.

4/5

‘Real Stories of True People, Who Kind Of Looked Like Monsters’ by Oso Oso is out now on Soft Speak Records.

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Words by Ailish Ryan.