Though mostly forgotten today, the short lived ‘freak
folk’ resurgence in the early-to-mid 2000s was a kind of catch-all buzzword for
groups like Animal Collective, Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, and Grizzly
Bear. Knowing what we know now about John Dwyer’s musical journey, it’s odd to
think he was ever associated with this subgenre. After all, isn’t he the garage
rock/psychedelic guy? Not to mention, wasn’t his first OCS album riddled with
noise and experimental techniques?
Time has a funny way of making predictions into false
prophecies. The music writers during the height of the ‘freak folk’ era couldn’t
have foreseen how far away from that style all of the aforementioned bands
would venture. Animal Collective may get all the focus for how different they
ended up, but John Dwyer’s OCS gave some of the earliest signs of breaking out.
Though the second OCS album, helpfully and simply titled 2, may be a more traditional ‘freak folk’ album than their first, it
still retains a daring, searching spirit. Whether this ‘more folk, less freak’
resulted in something to make it worth your time, well, we’ll get to that.
Released on either May 18 or June 14, 2004 (true date
is unknown), 2 was part of a bumper
crop of ‘freak folk’ albums released that year. Lost to time and popular
memory, it doesn’t stand up to the rest of Dwyer’s work, and pales even further
in comparison to its 2004 classmates: Animal Collective’s Sung Tongs, Joanna Newsom’s The
Milk-Eyed Mender, Grizzly Bear’s Horn
Of Plenty, and Devendra Banhart’s Rejoicing
In The Hands (and Niño Rojo).
Coming from the background of an Oh Sees fan, 2 is by turns charming and quaint, with its hushed vocals, banjos
and sloppy acoustic guitars. Coming from the background of a music fan, however,
it often sounds like a less refined, more forgettable version of its
contemporaries. ‘Killed Yourself’ reminds me way too much of Devendra Banhart’s
pre-electric music, to the point I thought maybe Spotify had switched over to
him. You can probably guess what ‘Banjo, Sold For Rent’ sounds like: as obvious
and boring as a ‘freak folk’ track featuring banjo can get, like listening to
someone try to showoff despite having little skill on the instrument.
If it seems like I’m being too hard on 2, I guess I’m as surprised as you are. On
paper, I should remember more of it and want to recommend it. It’s a much more
enjoyable and easy listen than the first OCS album. When it does dip into similar
noise tracks (‘Intermission’, ‘Fretting and Fussing’) or experiments (‘Bisbee’/’Bisbee
2’, ‘Untitled Pt. 6’), they don’t last as long and aren’t as carelessly thrown
together. Well, maybe Dwyer could’ve left off the last track, a pointless lofi recording
of a boy trying to tell the Goldilocks fairytale, but I digress. Objectively
speaking, I should have more positive things to say about 2. Some of the songs are OK and point to later, better music…the Pink
Floyd cover is interesting for how faithful it wants to be…it’s nice to hear John and Brigid (I assume it’s her, I
couldn’t find any personnel info online) singing together for the first time…yet…
Yet I still don’t have many positive memories of 2. It’s a below average ‘freak folk’
album that would otherwise be lost to time if not for the subsequent work of
its creator. While it’s playing I enjoy it…and once it’s over I forget it. It’s
a vapor cloud of an album, one that can’t hold its form and quickly dissipates.
Competent and crafted enough to be listenable, it has nothing that hooks you or
stays with you. 2 is that most
disappointing of albums in that it doesn’t offer enough to either love or hate.
