The Oozes - Gelatinous Man
Words: Eerie Rose
After being teased for the best part of a year, South East London’s queer punk legends The Oozes have finally bestowed upon us the long awaited EP, Gelatinous Man. Featuring a huge 10 tracks, the body of work covers all unreleased music the band have been performing with to date, with songs written between late 2018 and early 2023.
A formidable follow up to their successful debut EP, With Love, from The Oozes in 2020, the new body of work forms a description of vocalist/songwriter Tombo and his evolving experiences during various points in his transition, as well as exploring a variety of topics such as misogyny, policing and propaganda, queerness and joy, to struggling with mental illness. Gelatinous Man is a hard-hitting and bold statement, solidifying not only Tombo’s identity, owning both the difficulties he has personally faced and a sense of achievement and satisfaction in self-acceptance, but also The Oozes identity as a political punk band, making their stance on serious issues sharp and clear.
Featuring previously released singles STRAP!, Ready and Ultrasound, this new EP presents the band’s first feature on the song Piggies in Blankets, a collaboration with Bristol-based artist Grove. The track is an overtly political commentary on propaganda, brutality and corruption within the Met Police, and is as hard-hitting as it is catchy. Cuppa T pokes fun at misogynistic superiors, exploring the experience of misogyny through a trans-masculine lens, and features a 45 second intro by Anna Kunz of Torture & the Desert Spiders soloing on trumpet. The final track, Just Wait closes the EP with a desperate cry for help from crumbling NHS mental health services, bringing attention to medical neglect and preventable suicides due to waiting lists, exasperated by government negligence and lack of action to support the country’s most vulnerable. Not only is the track a beautifully vulnerable piece of writing, laying bare Tombo’s own experiences to draw attention to the serious issues faced by those in mental health crisis, but it is mixed perfectly with The Oozes traditional crunchy distortion and intensity amped up at all the right moments, with layered vocals and hysterical, desperate laughs and screams culminating in a seriously triumphant finish to the EP, both in it’s intent and sound.
Throughout the EP, The Oozes continue their objective of maintaining a balance between comedy and seriousness, using both theatrical campness and direct realism in their songwriting. Produced and Mixed by Daniel Fox (Gilla Band) the tracks are sonically heavy to complement the lyricism, driven by distorted riffs, vibrant layers of punchy vocals and instrumentation played fast and hard. Their sound blends elements of classically punk intensity with Tombo’s uniquely theatrical and skilful vocal delivery, that positions them as a very exciting band to keep an eye on as they continue to push into stranger, weirder and more archetypal Oozes realms, backed up by a consistent theme of tight live shows and masterful performance abilities. They may enjoy taking visual inspiration from clowns, but the craftsmanship and attention to detail on Gelatinous Man is certainly no laughing matter.
Gelatinous Man is available on all streaming platforms now. You can catch The Oozes live on September 7th at Shiny New Model in Cambridge (tickets) and at Pits and Perverts 40th Anniversary (tickets). Stay up to date with the band on Instagram.
