Album review: Oso Closo’s Today is Beauty’s Birthday

by Sir Funston Cheebur of My Denton Music

After releasing and touring on the rave reviews of their 2007 debut effort, Rest, Oso Closo is back for round two with their highly anticipated sophomore effort, Today is Beauty's Birthday, and it seems with each round these seasoned, North Texas, independent heavyweights get even stronger.

As the story goes, frontman Adrian Hulet and lead guitarist Chris McQueen left the confines of North Texas for a week long sabbatical at the isolated Caddo Lake so they could pen and arrange the songs for the upcoming album. Upon returning, the quintet hit the studio with a solid conceptual idea for a "complete piece of music," as Hulet would say. If you add in the involvement of producer Jason Cupp, a very interesting marketing strategy coupled with a very tasty morsel of an entrepreneurial idea, you might start to think that Rest could be swallowed up by beautiful history.

The album begins with the title track, "Today is Beauty's Birthday," seemingly a three-minute overture (or an arranged prelude to what the listener might hear at various points on the rest of the album) complete with piano, string sections, and woodwinds in "true blue" movie score fashion. Once your "Fantasia" deja vu sets in, the band hits you with the next three tracks, "Anywhere You Want To," "Straight Out the Gate," and "Weekend Song," pulling you away from images of Mickey and his wizard hat only to throw you headfirst into a rocking face-plant right on the front steps of Ridgemont High. Indeed, "Weekend Song" could easily have been the track you hear during the opening credit montage of the highly popular 1982 film with its carefree lead vocals, nostalgic harmony arrangements, and Chris McQueen wailing his own vision of where the classic tone of Brian May could be taken.

But the beauty of Oso Closo is in their ability to completely get you worked up only to bring you back down to earth without you noticing. The irony here is that their "earth" does its best to make you feel like you're floating in outer space. These moments are heard in "Magnolia," "Just Tonight," and "Le Desir du Nuage," with Hulet's pleasantly raw vibrato paying homage to the soul, classic rhythm and blues, and gospel hymns by which he is noticeably influenced.

This brings me to the two real gems of the album, "Back is Broken" and "What Do You See?," which, funny enough, happen to be the last two tracks of the album respectively. "Back is Broken" is one of those tunes that immediately catches your ear as it begins with funktastic guitar licks and Hulet's Adam Duritz-esque vocal melodies over a nice tight beat compliments of the always solid, Ryan Jacobi. It then moves into a more aggressive build-up to the crescendo only to culminate into one of the most notable solos on the album compliments of Mr. Shawn Martin and his insane Moog. It might literally melt your ear. As for "What Do You See?," just as you start wondering if it's a cover song you're too busy swaying with it to really care. This track is a perfect example of Oso Closo's propensity to lay back and ride a tasty wave all the way into your hips and take you for a smooth ride. It's also where Hulet shines brightest as it is the most soul-influenced track on the album.

Where some bands never get over (or even make it past) the proverbial "sophomore slump" in terms of releasing full-length albums, Oso Closo seems to be doing the exact opposite. This effort is a testament to what independent bands can accomplish if they have the vision, the talent, and the drive to make it happen. There should be good things on the horizon for this outfit.

Today is Beauty's Birthday is set to release Friday, September 4th at Hailey's in Denton, which is also the beginning of the band's tour in support of the album.