OZMA
“Doubble Donkey Disc”
(Kung Fu Records)
I still remember the first time I heard this fine five piece make their beautiful music. I was digging through one of Grampy’s old trunks in the attic, trying to find that one maroon v-neck sweater he used to wear before he died. It was gonna a look oh so cool with my new wire rimmed spectacles, I thought. Then my best and only friend Robbie called and asked if I wanted to go down to Strummies and see this band, Ozma. Of course, dude I replied and thus it began. My lifelong obsession with all things Ozma, that is. This new disc pairs two of their old platters-the Russian Coldfusion EP, and the Bootytraps EP, to serve up more than 40 minutes of purely ozmagnificent tunes. Despite the fact that the word booty is used quite often in the song titles, which kind of upsets me, this CD still totally rules. “The Business of Getting Down” is classic Ozma material, with rollicking, poppy guitars and plaintive vocals driving a high octane gem, while “No One Needs to Know” is a more introspective, somber look at mating and relating. There’s also a soothing flute passage courtesy of the splendid Star Wick, and even a frenetic cover of Russian classic “Korobeiniki,” or the “Tetris” song to you westerners, that really gives this one a dash of geek chic. The retarded lyrics of “You Know the Story,” however, are so bad(Asked her out/she gave me looks/I’ve only seen on evil crooks) that everyone walked out of my last Magic:The Gathering party as soon as it stared playing. But that was ok because I got to finish off all of the half-drunken glasses of Tang they left behind. I love Tang. But not nearly as much as Ozma.
