Oso Closo CD release party

Modern rock is plagued by many problems, and two of them revolve around the issue of earnestness. Often musicians suffer from one of two sides of the same problem: Either they, in all their "coolness" and allegiance to all that is affected, worship at the altar of irony with such devotion their work proves completely devoid of emotion; or, their emo predilections take over what might ordinarily be a perfectly clever, useful tune and turn it into a quagmire of overwrought, you know, feelings.

Either way, rock used to be fun. Remember when Queen blended blazing guitar work with an emotional bombast that was so genuine, yet so finely wrought, that it soared like a screaming eagle of rock? Or when Guns 'n Roses wrote that ridiculous opus, "November Rain," with its piano interludes and kick-ass, long-ass guitar solo, nonsensical lyrics and really weird choir vocals—a song that worked because GNR didn't give a shit what crazy cocktail they were concocting. They were just feelin' it.

It is within this context of fun rock celebration that Denton's Oso Closo chooses to compose its grandiose, ambitious songs, collected on the group's new CD, Rest, to be debuted at this show. Think high-concept metal guitars, less shredded than thoughtfully executed, plus operatic sensibilities and poppy, zippy strings. Some of it works, some of it doesn't, but the beauty is, Oso Closo doesn't give a shit either, at least not about the conventions of modern music. They clearly do give a shit about their music, however, and they ain't afraid to show it.