All photos by Sammy Braxton-Haney and text by Raquel Alipoon
Saturday, July 19th, 2025 was the first day of Mosswood Meltdown, held in Mosswood Park, Oakland, CA.
Gentleman Jesse opened day one well with a set that subverted his power pop label with alternative sounds of soft guitar and fervent vocals that felt like a sentimental memory swathed in sunshine. After playing “Compass” Jesse did a “festival no-no,” playing an unreleased track that promised earnest, indulgent vocals with a tight grip on his energetic, soothing instrumentals.
There could not have been a better premonition of what was to come on day one than crashing straight into the sweaty, diaper-wearing, Oakland native punk-electro band, Diesel Dudes. Though it was early in the day and the sky was still stuck in an overhead white haze of fog, Diesel Dudes transported the crowd to a warehouse at 3am where speakers pound out high bpm’s stuck in distorted electrical loops while the duo eggs you on to thrash yourself on the floor…..or do push-ups, as many in the crowd got down onto the ground to do so as “Pumpkin Muscles” and “Body Clench” came on. It was the ultimate work out playlist for punks, sobriety optional.
The energy did not dissipate with the entrance of the next band, NIIS. Decked out in leather like the cowgirl dominatrix of your dreams, lead singer Mimi came to the stage ripping out her signature garage-rock shrieks. True to the bands uncompromising vocality on anti-establishment ethos, their popular song’s lyrics, “Fuck You Boy” were changed to, “Fuck you ICE!”, ending in a reminder: “We’re all immigrants on stolen fucking land!” The festival’s pit was officially opened and warmed up with their last song, “Low Life.”
The crowd got visibly denser when popular band Bleached took stage with their bouncy, surf-rock tempos and cool, deadpan vocals. It was fitting that the clouds dispersed into bright sunshine as the crowd swayed and sang to hits like “Dazed” and “Think of You.”
Hailing from Spain, Prison Affair quickly caught traction with their egg punk style that speeds forward at full tilt, leaving listeners to feel like they could hardly bang their head fast enough. But Prison Affair isn’t the slap in the face you’d expect from such rowdy speed. Their instrumentals are softened under a slightly echoey synth and their guitar licks almost sound mischievous. Songs like “La fuga” and “Black Caiman” make you feel like you’re running from the police and laughing for the whole hot pursuit.
Exploding Hearts came ringing on stage with that teenage garage rock sound that made their breakout album an immediate hit. Flooded with a wave of nostalgia for the 2000’s punk-pop era of backyard shows, fans who were robbed of their chance to sniff glue as “Guitar Romantic” played at their favorite venue, finally got their reckoning. Crowds relived their teenage angst in tracks like “Sleeping Aides and Razor Blades” and “Rumors in Town,” bopping to high-spirited beats and guitar riffs that can only accompany adolescent die-hard crushes that crash into devastation right before another girl turns your head.
It was time to get ready for the pit, as the Osees prepared to leave the audience bruised, exhausted, and totally cathartic. Their albums can leave you jumping in your room but it’s incredible how much they transform their songs on stage as John Dwyer runs back and forth between a microphone fully engulfed in his mouth to knobs and foot pedals that give the band their signature psychedelic screech. This was the case for their first song “Withered Hand” as the track’s original recording opens with what sounds like distorted computer signals, which mutated on stage into something resembling a Jurassic hunting call. The audience feels like prey, being stalked by something from above. Then John Dwyer turns around, starts ripping from his guitar, and suddenly for the next glorious sixty minutes, we are all predators going on a frenzied, feral, assault.
Some bands get a decade or two of absolute glory before they sputter out, losing the momentum of that initial, explosive artistry that inspired their early days. Not Devo. Their trajectory has always been inspired by their own aspiration against devolution, which they have done successfully, driving their albums forward throughout decades to absolutely sincere evolution. Point proven, they opened with the hard-hitting synths of “Don’t Shoot (I’m a Man)”
a song from their 2010 album, Something For Everyone. Accompanied with visuals of their music videos that repeatedly played on cable during MTV’s early days, Mosswood Park was crammed shoulder to shoulder with Devo cultees, red energy domes everywhere in sight. The hour-long set was characteristically energetic the whole time, and the park was filled with chants as Devo played many of their call and response hits like, “Jocko Homo” and “Whip It.” The night ended with “Freedom of Choice” and “Beautiful World,” an optimistic note to a day filled with reminders that now more than ever, punks must continue well, being punks.
