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Reviews
Fracture
Before
I even knew OSTERMAN WEEKEND I knew they'd play powerful, driving melodic hardcore
along the lines of TEXAS IS THE REASON. Track two, "Milestone" is the
most TEXAS of the tunes, and the rest are impassioned, guitar-led right-on emo.
There are hints of RITES OF SPRING, FARSIDE, SENSEFIELD and more. All Held together
by a solid production, beautiful packaging and great lyrics. Live they rocked
out something special. Superb. (HE) Reason
To Believe
This
CD has really nice packaging: black card with silver artwork and a cool pullout
bit too, nice! The CD consists of 4 tracks of melodic hardcore/emo rock. It'snothing
too new and different but still pretty good. I love the nice long instrumental
intros. The songs are dynamic, varying between heavy rock and intricate emo. It
reminds me of Planes Mistaken For Stars mixed with early Jimmy Eat World or Mineral.
The Osterman Weekend are obviously really talented musicians and I look forward
to hearing more from them. (CB) Suspect
Device
4 tracks here, though what grabs
you first is the very nice packaging, a black card CD holder with silver writing
and illustrations, ooh. I purchased this myself but old Tony got sent it and asked
me to review it and I was more than happy to. I was told by the purchasee that
it sounded a bit Farside-ish and heck young Jimmy Out Of Step isn't wrong. Medium
paced songs that tend to build and rock out. The guitar seems to really stand
out for me, sounds ace, but it's all good, vocals are tops too. Good personal
lyrics and a nice touch at the end of each set of lyrics is a littel description
as to what the songs are about. All 4 songs are long with long instrumental passages,
but don't drag at all. I remember this was real cheap too so it's a bit of a must
have. I look forward to hearing more from these fine fellows. (DZ) Scruffster
You have to hand it to IATDE Records and their nose for a decent band cos in the
last coupla months they've introduced us to several top top top releases from
UK bands we'd never heard of before who are getting us all gushing with excitement
at the moment. You'll be able to read about what we think of the others another
time, but for now we wanna rave on at you about The Osterman Weekend and their
take on a style we rarely get on with. That fucking 'emo' tag is normally enough
for us to dismiss a band out of hand before we've heard anything by them, and
doubtless there's many amongst yerselves that are as detesting of wimpy pop music
passing for hardcore as we are. So you might need to brace yerselves fellow IPC
mag-fodder haters for The Osterman Weekend are that rare commodity of a band that
will be shoved into that poxy pigeonhole, that actually ply their trade with a
genuine musical and emotional passion. And if you don't take our word for it here
then beg, steal, borrow or find an MP3 somewhere cos we defy you not to be totally
pulled in by the rousing dynamic led build up and grandstand finish of 'Iron On',
or come to to think of it, any of this EP.
Think of an indie-rock band on
form bathing in Hotwater Music and early Fugazi records, or if Hundred Reasons
were actually any good and found some real melodies and energy to pump into their
criminally lauded mediocrity. This band ought to be going places soon. Remember
where you read it first... and that you read it here too! Allschool
(Germany)
Ebenfalls eine noch unbekannte Band aus England sind The
Osterman Weekend. 4 Songs die einen wie die halbe Ewigkeit vorkommen, an die 1997
Emowelle erinnern und einen ins schwärmen geraten lassen. Wer die Alten Platten
von Mineral, Sensfield oder Texas Is The Reason mag der sollte hier einen Backflash
bekommen.
The Ostermann Weekend bezaubern mit ihren langen Gitarrenintros
und legen dann richtig mit dem Gesang los.
Gefühl, Liebe und Romantik
wird in den Texten groß geschrieben und machen die CD einfach wunderschön
und einmalig. Richtig toll!! 8/10 Simone RockUK
After hearing many good things about these from such “quality” publications
like fracture, and a lot of people in the UK emo/hardcore scene saying “Think
Texas is the reason, but English”. I was looking to purchase this CD for
quite a few months, lucky for me i saw them play and bought the CD there, and
may i saw what a good job they have done on it. From Derby and Signed to the increasingly
popular In at the deep end records (run by mark of Ukbase), If you were listening
to the “critics”, you would already have heard The Osterman Weekend
are being compared to the “who’s who” of Emo, bands like Sensefield,
mineral, TITR, Farside and even Jimmy eats world. Some may say this is a high
target for the osterman weekend to reach, but from what this EP and their live
act shows, they are certainly up to the task of achieving what has been put in
front of them. The CD contains 4 songs, and is 22 minutes long, each song contains
elements of each of the following bands, but moulded so well together, it sounds
original and inspiring. First we are hit by the song “Flavour of the month
(which i personally can’t stop playing at the moment), a 5 minutes song which
contains all that is good about the dreaded E word. It starts off with a nice
laid back intro, then the distorted yet melodic guitars kick in with Adams singing
just fitting in perfectly with the rest of the sound. Followed by this are the
songs milestone (which for some reason is quoted on a lot of websites as VERY
TITR, someone email me and explain this because I personally don’t see it
myself), 456 (with it’s sexy bas riff J ) and iron on. The only criticism
I could give this release is that it can get repetitive after a bit, I think if
the EP had a few more songs on it, this would allow for variation and would probably
make this amazing. (hint hint, get a mini album/album out boys ) I consider the
osterman weekend to be one of the finest up and coming EMO Acts (sorry had to
say it) on the UK scene at the moment. I suggest you try and catch these guys
whilst they are still playing the toilet circuit, because if this is the sound
of the osterman weekend future, i think they will have a very bright one. And
whilst your at buy their CD, because i doubt you’ll be disappointed.
Rating: 7/10 - by Eddie Johnson
Collective-Zine
They sound like melodic
emo rock to me, you know, like Texas is the Reason crossed with the first Mineral
LP. You probably personally know at least 9 people who are in bands like this
– i.e. They have lots of melodic twinkly parts (the intro to "Iron On"
is beautiful) combined with driving rock outs and forceful guitars. Adz' vocals
move from sung to sung loudly.. They have a rather British feel to the whole thing,
coming across in a way similar to oldies Tribute, and they are also similar to
what the Jay Schraeder band sounded like when they started out. I think the Osterman's
have done a pretty solid job here, it's hard to stand out in a music genre swamped
with bands that all sound the same, but I enjoyed listening to these songs and
found them catchy. They also throw in some good atmospheric samples, neat. They
have 4 songs, lasting 22 and a bit minutes. It's emo rock, so you know what you're
getting. Above average for this style in that it didn't make me think nasty things
about nu-emo. It's refreshingly 1997 in style, and a lot of people will be well
into this.
(ANDY MALCOLM) Artcore
Brian Emo? Rod Hull and Emo? Emo Fuckin' Emo, I'm so sick and tired of Emo. Kill
It Dead! I have no idea who this sounds like cuz I have no idea about Fugg'in
Emo alright! What I can say there's 4 songs in 20 minutes and they are very much
above average for the genre, not exactly wimpy, but soaring and actually quite
emotional, which makes a change for Fuckin' Emo. There's plush graphic packaging
and the singer/guitarist is damn lucky he had his SWIZ t-shirt on for the live
photos, cuz I might not have otherwise been so kind - Superpunk
Although this is only a 4 song EP, The Osterman Weekend pack over 20 minutes of
emo/hardcore onto this disc that brings to mind excellent bands like Texas Is
The Reason, Mineral and touches of Rites Of Spring. They play the sort of music
that really made the whole "emo" scene start to take off in the mid-90's.
Musically everything is there, the production is great and the guitars sound huge.
The packaging itself is really nice too with a gatefold black cover with silver
silk screening along with a little fold out poster too. Everything about this
release is put together really well. If you really liked bands like Texas Is The
Reason and Mineral and you are pissed that they are gone, these guys might just
be what you are looking for. glenn innes Amplify
This
In At
The Deep End Records - the label that brought us the immense mini-album from Manchester
hardcore outfit Beecher (see demo review section) - have done it again. The Osterman
Weekend, Derby's finest post-hardcore/emo/whatever-this-new-movement-is-meant-to-be-called-anyway
band, are here with a debut recording that'll make your mouth open. It's not quite
enough to make your jaw drop, but it's not too far away.
Think Hundred Reasons.
Think Jimmy Eat World. Think of some of the most beautiful sex you ever had and
translate it to music. The Osterman Weekend are that great sex. Opening
effort 'Flavour of the Month' is a one of those good ol' epic tracks, full of
jangly guitar formations and aching vocals that point appreciatively at bands
like The Movielife and maybe even Silverchair at times. These nu-mo themes are
carried throughout the disc, through the more Hundred Reasons-tinged 'Milestone'
to the masterful delicacy of 'Iron On', the latter triggering memories of Smashing
Pumpkins at their most beautiful. Don't be fooled though - there are some negatives
to the recording. Principally, the production in places is noticeably lacking.
That said, not everybody has access to the finest equipment and producers when
they cut their first industry sampler.
Personally, I was crying out for better
vocal projection on the part of Adz, but again, this is something that will improve
as the band mature and confidence grows. Along with Cleethorpes' Left To Yesterday,
The Osterman Weekend are well worth your pennies. Enough
Webzine (Germany)
This
is the second release on Mark´s In At The Deep End Records, who also runs
www.ukbase.org.uk a platform with the aim of showcasing the talent the UK scene
has to offer. Quite a good job, because when I think about it, there aren´t
many bands coming to my mind when thinking about the UK Hardcore scene nowadays,
which was quite different in the late 80s early 90s. So have a look and wise up,
as I did... Another chance to check out what´s going on in the UK is to
pick up IATDE releases. This 4 song 22 minutes CDEP is by The Osterman Weekend
based in Derby. Pleasing my eyes with a gatefold black cardboard sleeve with silver
lettering this release proves right from the start, that it´s about more
than music. The lyrics printed also do so. Personal, but still understandable
even when you´re not living in the Osterman Weekends´ heads. The music
transporting the lyrics is about indierock/ emorock with enough power and passion
to save me from falling asleep, even it´s already early in the morning now.
Good job, and the singer Adam even wears a Swiz t-shirt. Isn´t this a reason
for liking them? |
£1.5
€3
$4
£3.50