Josh Ostrander, who records as Mondo Cozmo, has pop music practically down to a science. His fifth album, Sweet Forever, showcases his emotional lyrics, catchy hooks and big solos — a formula that’s landed his songs in two season finales of Prime Video’s “Reacher.”
First came “Shine,” from 2016 album Plastic Soul. This year, it was the title track to this new album. Both placements sent the songs to the top of Shazam’s U.S. rankings. The exposure also brought praise from Bruce Springsteen, who became a friend and occasional sounding board for Ostrander. Producer and Garbage drummer Butch Vig also offered notes and encouragement.
Despite his celebrity friends and Shazam success, Josh Ostrander has stayed grounded. He returned to his roots by working with the Cobbs, the band he credits with teaching him how to be in a band while coming up in Philadelphia. Playing together in his Napa garage, they aimed for the spontaneity of first takes. Writing the title track opened the floodgates, and Ostrander wrote 13 more songs in just two weeks.
“Sweet Forever” sprang out of Ostrander’s grief over the death of his beloved dog, Cozmo, the band’s namesake. Rather than dwell on the loss, he leans into gratitude.
“Sweet Forever/ Hallelujah ‘til the end/ And it’s a sweet surrender/ Until we meet again,” he sings in the anthemic chorus.
Gospel-style organ and choir make the song a sweeping epic, while a pounding “Lean on Me”-esque piano riff gives the chorus emotional heft. It builds to a blistering guitar solo by Ryan Bernstein, delivering another burst of catharsis.
Ostrander may have taken a cue from covering the Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” when he recorded the soaring “What I Believe.” Swelling strings give the opening a grandiose sound. The music is hopeful, even as he lowers the boom lyrically.
“Everybody’s blind to infamy/ The future is wrought with history/ If the past is dead just let it be/ For ‘hope’ is a chest full of memories,” he sings.
All is not lost, though, as he concludes, “For love is alive if you let it breathe/ That’s what I believe.”
Unusually for a Mondo Cozmo album, Sweet Forever features several guests. Jim James of My Morning Jacket appears on “White Roses,” while Langhorne Slim joins Ostrander on “Alabama.” The latter is a nonsensical, shambling country-rocker, while James brings subtle gravitas to the Americana-flavored “White Roses,” about grappling with pain, loss and grief.
“Bring me white roses/ You can lie to me/ Bring me white roses/ Just don’t ever leave,” Ostrander and James sing together.
Not everything is a big anthem. With its swagger, midtempo beat and percussive rhythm guitar, “Hanging On” wouldn’t sound out of place on a Cage the Elephant album. “Institution” is largely acoustic, with bursts of piano and bass, and Ryan Cobb contributing a loping, country-flavored solo. Its refrain is a simple “Mama, I’m coming home.”
While much of the album is serious and emotional, the Rolling-Stones-like “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone” adds some needed levity. The song follows a perpetual loser acknowledging his faults to his soon-to-be ex, sounding like one side of a drunken breakup overheard in a bar.
“I bet the Eagles on a long shot/ I bought you jewelry from a pawn shop/ I did the laundry, now your shirt shrunk/ I missed your birthday – I was way off,” Ostrander sings in a drawl over fiddle, banjo and dobro.
Aria Pullman, Ostrander’s wife and collaborator, adds raucous, echoing background vocals that are hilarious and perfectly suited to this boozy confessional.
Mondo Cozmo has always worn his influences on his sleeve, with references to the Beatles, Stones and others in past lyrics. Sweet Forever takes that reverence further with “Jump the River,” which sounds plucked from Springsteen’s ’70s catalog, echoing the Boss’ “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” with its shouted chorus.
“Jump the river, come on out tonight (come on out)!” he shouts.
“Market Square,” meanwhile, sounds remarkably like Bob Dylan trying to reconstruct Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know How It Feels” from memory.
“So let’s jump to the end/ Let’s run it back again/ And turn the radio up to 10,” he sings as the chorus begins.
These songs are fun, but they don’t showcase Ostrander’s songwriting talent as effectively as some of the album’s other tracks.
On closer “Silver Linings,” Ostrander turns meditative and reflective over a mellow, hypnotic beat.
“I’ve been working on trying/ On living, not dying/ On finding silver linings/ And I find them blinding to my eyes,” he sings.
Sweet Forever is a triumph for Mondo Cozmo. Ostrander continues to grow as a musician while sharpening his songwriting. On his fifth album, he wisely forgoes excessive polish in favor of spontaneity and looseness, and the result is a joy to hear.
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About The Author
Rachel Alm does HR by day. She holds a degree in English from Arizona State University. She lives in Orange County with her guitar-playing husband, son and two dogs. She loves the L.A. music scene but she hates standing-only shows with three opening bands. Her happy place is the local farmer’s market. She can crush you at music trivia.