Credits to Brad for the post below!
OZMA (not pronounced as an acronym) is a Southern California rock band, more specifically classified as new wave/power pop, which was formed in 1995. The band’s music features vocal harmonies, blues elements, strong guitar riffs, and most notably a Casiotone keyboard which produces a sound that almost borders on chiptune. It’s very rare nowadays to see all of these elements combined, and consequently they aren’t the most popular band out there (although they did tour with Weezer and play on the Vans Warped tour a couple of years ago), but they have been living in Weezer’s shadow since they toured together. Nevertheless their distinctive sound is one that needs to be heard. Another facet that makes them such a great group is their lyrics. In a world where modern music is dominated by songs about alcohol, weed, money, and slutty women, it’s always nice to hear one that has meaningful lyrics. One of my favorites is from a song called Motorology 3:39: “I’m still dreaming of clock towers and synchronicity.” It sounds random, but if you look at the rest of the lyrics, you will see this song is actually about the novel 1984 by George Orwell, where the whole country, even peoples’ minds, are controlled by a corrupt government. It isn’t the first classic literature reference made by the band. In fact, it is a constant theme – even their name is derived from a popular novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. They are not only incredibly talented musicians and composers, but very cultured lyricists as well.
Click “Read More” to read more about OZMA and listen to their music.
OZMA is definitely my favorite band. Their music is inspiring, captivating and moving, often incorporating multiple tonal modulations into one song (major, minor, blues, chromatic). This can produce some awesome changes in the feel of the pieces; I sometimes find myself getting emotional because of how powerful their harmonies are, especially when they’re on melismas (multiple notes sung on a single syllable), a good example of which is in the song Spending Time. Another great example of harmony is in Heartache vs Heartbreak, which is a beautiful male/female duet. One of the things I love about this song is the unexpected chord changes. In most songs, you can kind of predict what comes next, but the first time I listened to this one I was pleasantly surprised by how far off I was when I pictured the next chord change. Topic-wise, they cover everything from love, to baseball and video games, and even famous celebrities (one song is about the singer being in love with Natalie Portman, even though she is a famous actress and doesn’t know he exists).
Unfortunately OZMA hasn’t released anything new in a while (their last album came out in 2007) and haven’t toured in almost as long (they will be playing their first concert in three years this November 27th). I would love nothing more than to go, but it’s in California so chances are slim. If anyone lives on the west cost, though, I would highly encourage you to see them and give them your support. They’ve already broken up once before and I would hate to see it happen again!
I’ve provided some of my favorite tracks (including the ones I talked about in the bio). They best show off OZMA’s unique style, even though they’re not necessarily their most popular. You can listen to almost all of their songs on either their Myspace page or on Youtube.
Download Spending Time: From the album Spending Time On The Borderline. Has some really great vocal harmonies.
Download Heartache vs Heartbreak: A great song featuring a duet that also has some great harmonies.
Download Natalie Portman: A somewhat comical song about a guy who is in love with Natalie Portman, even though she is a famous actress that is way out of his league and doesn’t know he exists.
