I've never been a Christmas kind of person. It's been my least favorite holiday for a long time, and it seems to always be a melancholy time of year. 2019's holiday season has so far been especially difficult because I'm on my own, living at a friend's place in Columbus. He's vacationing abroad with his girlfriend until after the new year, and my wife and I are in the middle of one of those awkward “we're not speaking” kind of arguments. This is all the cherry on top to what will go down as, no hyperbole, one of the worst years I've ever had. So while a lot of people seem to love the end-of-year seasonal traditions, like looking back on the past year by ranking movies and music in top ten lists, I just want this fucking year to be over. Given all of this, my preferred form of looking back is to revisit some of my all time favorite things and to not think about anything that happened in 2019. Sure, I just saw Knives Out in the theater (a fantastic film, by the way) but I've also been rewatching, say, Pulp Fiction and the best episodes of Trailer Park Boys.
As for music, you ask? Well, aside from mainlining Microcastle by Deerhunter and First Come, First Served by Dr. Doooom aka Kool Keith, I also can't stop listening to Carrion Crawler/The Dream. And no, it's not just because I'm writing this retrospective. Much as it may be a foregone conclusion that I love this album, we'll at least try to see if anything bahs my humbugs when I once again put down my fandom banner and put on my critical lenses.
Let's ignore the fact that the back of the record sleeve says this is an EP: Carrion Crawler/The Dream is the third and final full length release from Oh Sees in 2011, arriving on November 8th. If anyone has a concrete answer as to why the back sleeve says EP, I'd love to know. I would speculate, based on interviews and comments from the band, it was because originally this was going to be an EP based around 'The Dream.' When they wrote 'Carrion Crawler' (and perhaps one or two more tracks) they decided to put it all out together. Recorded and mixed by stalwart Oh Sees collaborator Chris Woodhouse, the album was finished in only five days and done entirely live as a full band in the studio. This approach paid off like a hacked slot machine for Frog Eyes on the similarly bombastic and long-song-heavy Paul's Tomb (A Triumph). Whereas the key to that album was adding a second guitarist, Carrion Crawler/The Dream takes full flight by adding Lars Finberg as the second drummer. It doesn't hurt that Oh Sees also delivered one of their most cohesive batch of songs yet, with a special emphasis on krautrock rhythms and song structures.
Look, we all know that this record is a classic in the Oh Sees canon. Most fans I've encountered seem to adore it and keep it permanently in their top five. We also all know that 'The Dream' is one of their towering achievements; it's been a fixture in live shows for years now and it's still their most popular song on Spotify. What we all might not know, or perhaps remember, is how many other fantastic songs come alongside 'The Dream.' Nobody ever seems to talk about 'Robber Barons', with its patient pace and wall of sound guitars. Also undeservedly forgotten, 'Chem-Farmer' has an absolute unit of a bassline that will rattle your skull if you crank it on a good set of speakers or headphones. Speaking of skulls, I would totally buy this record just for the cover art alone. I mean, wouldn't you? Yeah you would; I knew I liked you.
Special commendation must be given to 'Carrion Crawler' as one of the most perfect album openers in the history of Oh Sees album openers. It careens down the road with an addictive descending guitar riff that nods so heavily toward Pink Floyd's 'Interstellar Overdrive' it risks headbutting the piper at the gates of dawn, if you catch my drift. It makes me embarrassed because I didn't make the connection until they started using part of 'Interstellar' as a soundcheck/introduction to some live shows in the last year or two. Now, if I did have any nitpick with Carrion Crawler/The Dream, it's that 'Opposition' (or 'Opposition (With Maracas)', if you have the vinyl record) and 'Wrong Idea' are slight little trifles that seem underwritten by comparison to the rest of the songs...although...
...Although I do think they're purposefully positioned to mitigate the time and reality warping effects of 'The Dream.' I suppose this means I have to unpick that nit, then.
So, there you have it. A foregone conclusion about how great this album is...um, well foregone. No surprises, eh? Well, you know something? The holidays aren't always about surprises, wrapped gifts that tantalize with their mystery contents. Just as people still watch the marathon of A Christmas Story year after year, sometimes you want something familiar—indeed, something that familiarity has worn away the flaws of. You may not think this is a perfect record though I'd be willing to bet all the reindeer in Norway that you'd be hard pressed to name another Oh Sees album that is both a great entry point for newcomers and a hardcore fan favorite. But I digress. Happy holidays, and always remember: the dream, it seems, is peeking into real life.
[Unimportant footnote: I'm still not sure what part of Can's 'Soul Desert' is contained in 'Contraption/Soul Desert', even after listening to the original song and also the demo of 'Contraption' on Singles Collection Vol. 1 & 2. I think maybe it's just some lyrics or a riff or chord....?]
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