Originally published in Verbicide issue #4

Ozma has toured with and is constantly compared to Weezer, and I’d have to say that this is a very fair comparison. Their influences are definitely rooted in ’90s power-pop, but they draw from a wide range (everything from The Beatles to Elvis Costello) and Ozma is poppier, synth-driven, and lyrically quirkier than Weezer. I suppose that “lyrically quirky” and “synth-riven pop” are also appropriate descriptions for a band like The Faint, but Ozma are a far cry from such haughty, eerie sex-themed drivel. Instead, they play a lot of clever love songs, such as track three, “Natalie Portman,” and track seven, “Baseball,” drawing comparisons between growing apart from the game and growing apart from another person. Damn…I don’t know what is a bigger tragedy. There’s also a really cool CD-ROM on this disc, containing videos, fliers, photos, lyrics, and other good stuff.

(Kung Fu Records, PO Box 38009, Hollywood, CA 90038)