Justin Osb… Read Full Bio ↴Susto is an American indie-rock band based in Charleston.
Justin Osborne needed a break. He'd been writing music and making albums since he was 15, and by the age of 26, he felt like he was spinning his wheels. He knew he needed a change, so he ended his old band Sequoyah Prep School and moved to Cuba. He thought he might be done with music for a while, but the songs just kept coming.
"I had this idea in my mind that I was going to try and join some kind of Latin American Leftist movement. I wanted to jump off a cliff," Osborne says. "Once I got there I immediately started hanging out with musicians and going to shows. I started showing them the songs from this project that was kind of just an idea in my head.
"They were like, 'man, don't throw away your passport, go home and continue to make music,'" he says. "I was encouraged by them to try again."
Osborne was already writing the songs for what would be SUSTO's 2014 self-titled debut when his producer Wolfgang Zimmerman introduced him to Johnny Delaware, a guitarist and songwriter who had moved to Charleston, South Carolina to make an album with the producer.
SUSTO is a Spanish word referring to a folk illness in Latin America that Osborne learned as anthropology student, meaning “when your soul is separated from your body,” and also roughly translates to a panic attack. For Osborne, the music of SUSTO was something he had to get out into the world.
SUSTO released their debut album independently and toured relentlessly to get the word out. They were an immediate hit in their hometown, packing venues, getting airplay at all the bars and even making a fan of Band of Horses' Ben Bridwell. "I got an e-mail from him, telling me he loved the record and wanted to meet with me and Johnny," he says. "That was actually the day I wrote my professor, and I said, ‘I'm not coming in.’"
The members of the live band that Osborne and Delaware recruited — Corey Campbell (guitar, keys, backing vocals), Jenna Desmond (bass), and Marshall Hudson (drums, percussion) contributed to SUSTO’s new album & I'm Fine Today, which will be released via Caroline. "We just wanted to go further. We started something with the first record, and we want to keep going in that direction," Osborne says of the album, which finds them taking the spacey country rock of their debut into the stratosphere, piling on layers of sighing keyboards, galloping rhythms and frayed, noisy guitar solos atop wistful melodies and lyrics that examine growing up and growing into yourself. “We put the first record out, and we worked hard, and it just feels like a good place to be,” he says, noting that while the first record focused on his own struggles, & I'm Fine Today is more concerned with looking at the world beyond the struggles in your head.
“I’ve learned to appreciate the fact that I just get to be here. It’s all perspective,” he says. “This album is about coming to terms with yourself and feeling okay with your place in the universe."
Acid Boys
Susto Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've got to bust out of town, somebodies waiting underneath the city light waiting for to shoot me down; I don't want to die here...
not now.
I've been running with the Acid Boys, "ooin' in the bites" doing what can to survive now.
Nobody's got money but nobody really cares because everyones just hanging on.
I don't want to lay down slow and leave.
You don't want to love anyone or anything.
You don't know nothing about nothing now everything's getting you down.
My street is like a battlefield, shotguns at my chest; I was just walking down to see what the noise was.
They put me in handcuffs, slide me in the backseat of a cop car, and tell me I should go home.
Well, home has come and left.
I'm not blind but I think I might be deaf.
Because I don't know nothing about nothing but everything is bringing me down.
Somethings got to give, somebody has to get out of town.
You can say it loud, you can say it real loud indeed.
You can tell me that you don't want to stay, you can tell me that there's somebody else in your life now...
thats alright.
Take me to the train tracks and get me out of town, I've got to bust out tonight.
Somebody's hanging around trying to shoot me down, hiding out in the city lights.
I don't want to die here...
not now.
"Acid Boys" by Susto is a poignant and emotional song that portrays the hardships and struggles of a group of young individuals living in a town that's gone to ruin. The lyrics describe the singer's desperate attempt to flee the town and escape the gang of Acid Boys who have been his only companion in his journey so far. As the song progresses, it becomes clear that the singer is walking on the edge of life and death and is being hunted by someone, presumably a rival gang member.
The lyrics suggest that the singer has been leading a reckless lifestyle on the streets as part of a gang of Acid Boys who have been his solace in times of hardship. The reference to "doing what I can to survive" suggests that life is hard in this town, and everyone is just trying to make ends meet by any means possible. However, the singer is also aware of the dangers of being part of such a group and is looking for a way out before it's too late.
The most striking aspect of the song is the desperation in the singer's voice. He's trying to escape a world that's unforgiving and cruel and is taking him down with it. The repeated cries of "I don't want to die here, not now" echo the sense of urgency and despair that run through the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Take me to the train track, get me there tonight.
I need to leave this place immediately, take me to the train track tonight.
I've got to bust out of town, somebodies waiting underneath the city light waiting for to shoot me down; I don't want to die here... not now.
I have to escape from this place because someone is waiting to kill me under the city lights. I don't want to die here, not yet.
I've been running with the Acid Boys, "ooin' in the bites" doing what can to survive now.
I have been hanging out with the Acid Boys, trying my best to survive by any means necessary.
Nobody's got money but nobody really cares because everyones just hanging on.
Nobody has any money, but nobody cares because everyone is just trying to make it through.
I don't want to lay down slow and leave.
I don't want to die a slow death.
You don't want to love anyone or anything.
You don't want to care about anyone or anything.
You don't know nothing about nothing now everything's getting you down.
You don't understand anything, and everything is bringing you down.
Life isn't what it was supposed to be but that's just how it is now...
Life is not what we expected it to be, but that's just the reality now.
My street is like a battlefield, shotguns at my chest; I was just walking down to see what the noise was.
My street is like a warzone, with guns aimed at me. I was just going to see what was happening.
They put me in handcuffs, slide me in the backseat of a cop car, and tell me I should go home.
The police arrest me, put me in the back of the car, and tell me to go home.
Well, home has come and left.
Home is not what it used to be.
I'm not blind but I think I might be deaf.
I can see, but I can't hear anything. I feel disconnected.
Because I don't know nothing about nothing but everything is bringing me down.
I don't understand anything, and everything is making me feel depressed.
Somethings got to give, somebody has to get out of town.
Something has to change, someone has to leave town.
You can say it loud, you can say it real loud indeed.
You can express yourself, scream it out loud.
You can tell me that you don't want to stay, you can tell me that there's somebody else in your life now... thats alright.
You can tell me that you want to leave or that there's someone else in your life, and that's okay with me.
Take me to the train tracks and get me out of town, I've got to bust out tonight.
Take me to the train tracks so I can escape this town tonight.
Somebody's hanging around trying to shoot me down, hiding out in the city lights.
Somebody is waiting to kill me, hiding among the city lights.
I don't want to die here... not now.
I don't want to die in this place, not yet.
Contributed by Penelope H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.