Within the confines of your traditional power trio, Osgoods (viz. Anthony Nigro on vocals/guitars, Dan Hull on drums/percussion and David Jurs on bass) contrive to cover much sonic ground on this sophomore release. Let’s strip it all down, shall we? Osgoods deal in guitar rock and in songs like the robust “Steady,” the dark, psychedelic “Everything Fades” and the 70s rocking “Where I Bleed.” They stretch their collective abilities to deliver consistently solid pop-rock material. To their credit, Osgoods are also able to venture into more diverse material, if ever so slightly; as “You Made It Easy” contains a easy folk vibe, “You’re Killing Me” highlights a soft jazz-rock feel that would make Paul Weller proud and “My New Excuse” is a mid-tempo reflection that slinks along to a pleasing conclusion. Smother and Shrink is competent pop-rock that twists and turns at about the right time with enough catchy tunes to appeal to the pop underground set and enough edginess to sell itself to the indie rock crowd.
~ Kevin Mathews
Release date: November 3, 2006
