The Unique. Stuffed. Bear. Who is also emo…
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[5.89]
Vikram Joseph: In terms of critical response, the fourth wave of emo has been more like a tsunami; after years of contempt and neglect from the establishment, of high-water-marks like Bleed American getting 3.5 from Pitchfork, these were halcyon days for the genre — it felt flush with fresh ideas, and (largely) purged of the endemic misogyny of its early ’00s strain. But for all that, it’s remained largely an underground concern. (It won’t, but) if any album was going to break through the emo glass ceiling it might be Oso Oso’s newest one. “Impossible Game” is an exuberant example of the way Jade Lilitri intuitively folds mathy riffs into wistful, surging choruses with hooks that owe as much to power-pop as to emo or punk — the chord progressions in the six-bar bridge are sublime. What’s striking about the resurgence of emo is that, despite its reputation, so much of it feels positive, and Oso Oso make songs you’d go to to feel alive –– even “most times, I feel like shit” feels cathartic leading into the skydive of a chorus.
[8]
Julian Axelrod: The idea of a new generation of indie bands sounding like Rilo Kiley but emulating Blake Sennett instead of Jenny Lewis makes me want to walk into the ocean. But this strain of thorny, existential emo would make the perfect soundtrack.
[7]
Alfred Soto: Light disco? Would-be AOR with a faint pulse? The world may never know.
[3]
Joshua Minsoo Kim: There are a lot of different emo bands that come to mind when I listen to Oso Oso. Do they sound like The Early November with less precious vocals? Like Mineral without the post-hardcore influence? The second coming of Saves the Day circa Stay What You Are? Such is the allure of contemporary emo music: so much of it is so obviously indebted to ’90s/2000s bands, but they rarely sound like carbon copies of old artists, and the genre is as deceptively diverse as it was more than a decade ago. “Impossible Game” is one of my least favorite songs on Basking In the Glow, mostly because its chorus deflates the rhythmic energy of the guitar figure. There’s an exhaustion that’s felt in Jade Lilitri’s vocals — he never sounds as mopey as midwest emo bands did, and the spaciousness of the track makes this feel more Disenchanted Adult than Angst-ridden 20-something — but I think the instrumentation does a better job of capturing the sense of being a burnout. The chorus is a hapless singalong, I get that, but it prevents “Impossible Game” from being a seamless song.
[5]
Will Adams: There are stronger moments on Basking In the Glow, including ones where the vocal mixing is better, but if ever there were a time to use the phrase “undeniable chorus,” this is it.
[7]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: The guitar riff is bluesy, or at least as bluesy as I’ve heard an emo band get, but Oso Oso’s strength is in those soaring power pop hooks. “Impossible Game” loses the thread a little in a bridge that abandons the twisty rhythms of the verse and the chorus for something more driving, but the final chorus is joyful enough to mostly wash that memory away.
[7]
Michael Hong: There’s something so simple about the melody of “Impossible Game” that makes it feel intimately familiar without ever sounding like you’ve heard it before. Jade Lilitri’s acoustic strumming and soft voice add to the feeling of familiarity, breathing warmth into the track and allowing optimism to seep through whenever it’s needed. “Impossible Game” takes its time coming to the chorus, but when it does, it swells into a moment of restful bliss. Oso Oso have taken the lightest elements of early emo-pop and packaged it into a sunny vessel that is bright and reassuring without ever having to sacrifice any of Lilitri’s self-deprecating honesty.
[8]
Kylo Nocom: After years of the 2000s “fake emo” wave being rehabilitated as canonical or respectable, “real emo” becoming defined by American Football for some reason, and pop punk seeing a revival through geeky indie rockers, you’d think this damn band would know how to write a good hook. Or where to place a gratuitous “fuck” and “shit.”
[4]
Hannah Jocelyn: I shouldn’t care about this, especially as I often make appearances on the other side of the byline, but this got Best New Music and Foxing didn’t? The production, from Mike Sapone, feels raw, but raw as a pejorative; it sounds like a rough mix before someone professional steps in and brings up Jade Lilitri’s vocals, makes his drums hit harder, does anything to make this sonically interesting beyond that drum loop at the beginning. The lyrics have no turns of phrase to single out Jade — “that scratch off ticket never did bring luck/I’m out back wishing I still gave a fuck” is painful and not endearing. “Sometimes you do what you feel/well most times I feel like shit” feels like one of those pithy, oft-repeated tweets liked by people you thought knew better. The harmonies and counter-riffs potentially make this worth repeat listens, but where Ian Cohen hears “glimmering, late-summer brilliance,” I hear an emo trope pileup and a static mix.
[4]