Osees

Osees hit The Leeds Irish Centre in Leeds on 15 July 2026 with a set that flips their own script. Led by John Dwyer, the band parks guitars and keys to push a front line of percussion and Roland SPD-SX samplers, riding sampled synth tones stretched across three octaves and played with sticks. Born from 4-track cassette demos and cut hot to 8-track tape, the new material comes raw and kinetic, all pulse and clang, somewhere between pop hooks and bruised synth-punk. Sax-tinged textures color the edges and add a reedy bite, while the grooves stay deliberately bone-simple so the words can do the twisting.

Dwyer draws on fragments overheard in day-to-day life: resilience and self-check, flashes of humor, the odd WTF, the tug of kindness against the drain of bad actors. It reads clear and close to the bone, aiming for movement first and reflection after, with a sci-fi glint and a few heavier drops. Long-time shape-shifters from garage and psych to harder surges, Osees here chase impact through rhythm, repetition and blunt melody.

Support comes from Straight Arrows.