_{Bryan Grenberg photo.} 

The OSees
+ G2G
+ Exit Mould
The Metro Theatre, Sydney
February 28, 2025

During the 1990s, The Metro was THE venue in Sydney. I could list the life-changing gigs that I went to and it was chocka block full of top shelf bills every weekend. More than a thousand punters crammed in and with great sound. And great sight-lines.  Tonight, I am back again to see if the sold-out OSees can top their intense performance of almost two years ago.

In the '90s, playing a gig at The Metro was something to aspire to. Even I played gigs there back in the day, as an opening act. Damn, they treated you well, with a fridge full of beer and a dressing room…complete  with a photocopied A4 piece of paper with your band’s name on the door. It was welcoming.

It is still a top shelf room in a prime location. While the suburbs outside the city are abuzz with Friday night teens, roaming gangs and dance music kitsch and glitter, The Metro is mostly (sadly) like the last oasis of rock ‘n’ roll in the Sydney CBD.

_{John Dwyer goes surfing. Jesse Calvo photo.} 

After an inspection of the merch stand (and the OSees do have the coolest array of tee- shirts on offer), I make a decision about what I want and opt to buy later, despite the risk of it selling out. As it did.

Opening bad  Exit Mould  are playing to an almost half-filled room  They hail from Newcastle and call their music “egg punk”. They have a terrific five-track EP online.  I manage to catch the last few of their two-minute jabs and they’re classic post-punk. The influences are from 1978 UK art punk, all distorted guitars, fuzz bass and primal drums that sound like they were made from a  shoebox,  with some X-Ray Spex saxophone.  I like what I saw.

G2G start after a lot of on-stage soundchecking that detracts from the initial impact of what eventually turned out to be a stellar 30-minute set.

The band draws on early Pixies bass-lines, inspired by Kim Deal, with a layer of Riot Grrrl attitude. Vocalists Angela Waite, Georgia Wilkinson-Derums and Geta Balong don’t trade in sweet harmonies; it’s more like conversations in a loud bar or at politics in the park. The music is marked by primal punk bare chord riffing, with the odd dissonant lead guitar.  

Daniel Stewart adds a no frills, solid back-beat as they draw from their recently-released album, ”The Gherkin”, which is worth checking out. It’s pop songs that bounce along with attitude. Their finale, ”amphem”, channels a tongue-in- cheek high school world obsessed with world domination.  A great band.  

The OSees are touring Australia on their most recent album “SORCS 80”, and with a quick changeover they are onstage without any fanfare. From the outset, the venue’s foundations are rocked. It is like a level 4 earth quake has hit. The sound is loud and clear.

_{Titouan Masse photo.}

As mentioned, it’s almost two years since OSees rocked my universe in the same room and led me to believe I was witnessing one of the most original and cutting-edge bands I had seen. Classic garage, psychedelia and brutal hardcore. As it is again.

Band leader John Dwyer is a force in charge of a cottage industry with his albums, artwork and tee-shirts that he created. He’s inspired an almost cult-like following. Now aged in his late 40s, he has about 30 albums under his belt and more than 20 are by OSees. He never sits still and is always evolving his music.

Tonight, Dwyer is frantic force with his SG strapped around his neck and twirling knobs on a retro mono synth and effects pedals. As the band leader, his mind must move much faster than then Cyclone Alfred.

The drums out front-of-stage are occupied by the thunderous combo of Paul  Quatrone and Dan Rincon, and the man packing the powerful bass is Timothy Hellman.

Multi-headed rhythm sections are a pathway well-worn by The Fall and Melvins but I believe OSees have conquered the mountain. It is experimentation and what makes the band cutting edge. Dyer pulls out all the stops to push the sonic boundaries intensely - in spite of the limitations of garage rock  Then we have keyboardist Thomas Dolas who adds that classic ‘60s swirl of The Doors and The Animals mashed together.

We are given several songs from the new album. including “Plastic”, and classics like “The Dream”. It is an almost two-hour o set that swings from sonic excursions to nuggets of classic ‘60s rock.  Could  OSees deliver better then did two years ago?  Well yes, it was more intense, tighter and even more layered.

The Metro was back to its heyday and feels like a furnace, packed to the rafters by an underground band. The remarkable OSees summon the wildest mosh-pit. That’s is befitting as they are one of the best live bands in world.

Throw in two local, up-and-coming bands in G2G and Exit Mould underlines that there is so much talent emerging from Gen Z - and that they have scoured their parents’ record collections intensely.    

The gig was a blast!