Oso

MUSIC

A family learns collaboration in the band.

By Katherine Silkaitis

Add Comment | Comments: 13 | Posted May. 5, 2009

Listen to Oso on the Umm...Drop Podcast.

Oso means bear in Spanish, so perhaps it’s fitting that the eponymous band is hosting its CD release party at a venue that’s already got a penchant for unusual pets.

“Connie’s Ric Rac has a snake and a rat on the bar at the same time,” says Oso bassist Mike Gordon with unbridled glee. “Rick the Rat, I think, is the rat’s name, and he was originally food for the snake, but he was too big. Now they have this big rat that’s bigger than the snake. It’s awesome.” Then he adds, “They’re in cages.”

Four years after songwriter Mike Schaller wrote the album’s first tune, the band is finally ready to release it—at the Rac. Schaller started writing songs for the album while living in California, but it wasn’t until the Lafayette Hill native returned to Philadelphia in late 2006 that the tunes found their way to a full band. “The Bellringer” has a distinct California flavor. There’s a mesh of funk and reggae à la Sublime, but with heavy emphasis on vocal harmonies and deceptively simple chord and key changes. Rollicking melodies and groovy bass lines, accompanied by Schaller’s distinct vocal stylings, permeate the album, while lyrics tend to gravitate toward the stereotypical indulgent Los Angeles lifestyle.

Brother Steve on guitar, childhood friend Gordon on bass and drummer Josh Fullam from another local band make the band a quartet, and they’ve been perfecting Schaller’s set of 10 tunes for years.

But as the band works on new material, Oso is becoming much more collaborative. Says Schaller, “Sometimes it’s hard to have one vision for a song and then realize that it’s a band and everyone brings their own thing. I’m still learning that whole part of it, but it’s definitely way more fun playing in a band.”

Sat., May 9, 8pm. $20 (includes CD, unlimited food and beer). Connie’s Ric Rac, 1132 S. Ninth St. 215.279.7587. www.conniesricrac.com