I have a really bad habit of buying a book with every intention of reading it immediately and it ends up getting put off and put off. It sits out, undisturbed, usually on either a nightstand or a coffee table; it gathers dust and is occasionally glanced at with increasing self-criticism. Well, I'm happy to report that I am currently reading something: How Music Works by David Byrne. As it's written by someone deeply involved in the artform, it gives me somewhat of a similar feel as the legendary book/longform interview that Francois Truffaut did with Alfred Hitchcock. Anyway, the section about how recording technology has shaped music, and vice versa, is filled to the brim with minor “ah ha!” moments. Such as? Well, such as, once multi-track recording was introduced, artists no longer needed a full band playing together live in the studio. If you were a Brian Wilson-esque auteur, you could even record each instrument and vocal line yourself. Some artists did and still do record as a full band in the studio, though the choice is now more about the aesthetic qualities and level of control over the music this allows than it is about how much more convenient it is not to corral a group of musicians. I used to always assume when John Dwyer did what are effectively solo albums under the Oh Sees name, it was because he wanted to get something out fast without having to get the band together. With more Oh Sees history under my belt, I now realize how wrong I was.
Coming as it did between beloved juggernauts Carrion Crawler/The Dream and Floating Coffin, Putrifiers II has persistently struck me as an overshadowed, oft-forgotten album. Released on September 11th, 2012, it's yet another Oh Sees record labelled as an EP but is clearly a full-length LP. Some versions of the cover art/back art have EP on them, some don't. Why this happened, I have no idea, and I could find nothing to explain it in my research. I'm not even sure which album art is “official” since there's at least two variants with different wording. I should say before we get any further that I haven't heard the Australian bonus disc with the demos. As my Singles Collection Vol. 1 & 2 retrospective made clear, I don't find demos and outtakes all that interesting, sooooo let's just focus on the album itself. One more sidenote before we get down to brass tacks—the cover art, and art elsewhere in/on this album, is terrible. I'm not the biggest fan of Warm Slime's art, which was done by the same artist (Kyle Ranson), but at least it's abstract and has interesting use of colors. Putrifiers II just seems like it's trying to be bad, an even more ugly version of the figure on the cover of Tears Of The Valedictorian, now rendered in anemic tones of gray with clashing/eye piercing rainbow text.
It's clear to anyone familiar with the band's work why Putrifiers II is overshadowed, so let's break down why it's oft-forgotten. For starters, the production is oddly skeletal sounding. It was mostly recorded/performed solo by John Dwyer, so even the more typical garage rock songs sound a bit too thin and polished, like somebody trying to replicate a full band's sound. 'Wax Face' has always struck me as a bit bloodless and forgettable, while 'Flood's New Light' comes off as if it were a Castlemania leftover without the rough edges and lower-fi production that made that record so beguiling. Speaking of, in some ways the solo recording style and diversity of sounds on Putrifiers II make it feel like an unofficial sequel to that album. Yet unlike Castlemania, there's something very disjointed and poorly paced about the varied styles of its successor. From backloading the record with two English psych-folk string-laden tracks ('Goodnight Baby' and 'Wicked Park'), to putting the swampy Velvet Underground-esque dirge 'So Nice' too early in the running, to the way the two longest songs start off side B of the record and neither of them have enough ideas to justify their length...it's a mess that never gels and clicks in the mind the way that Castlemania eventually does.
The biggest top-down flaw with Putrifiers II is that it feels rushed and careless. Sure, Oh Sees's prolificacy means they won't put out an absolute banger every year, but that has never stopped them from being consistently interesting and putting out a product that feels complete. Putrifiers II comes off as much like an odds-and-sods compilation as it does a fully realized artistic work. I mean, is that supposed to be a flute solo on 'Will We Be Scared?' Maybe he forgot to go back and play an actual solo or melody line that would keep your attention, because the last minute and a half of the song is nothing but bored vamping. 'Lupine Dominus' is as slight as its runtime suggests, one of the most forgettable krautrock jams they ever recorded, with a lead guitar line that sounds like somebody trying to learn to play a trumpet for the first time, all puckered and teethy and duck farty. Meanwhile there's the absolute waste of time 'Cloud #1', a drone/noise track of someone sustaining random atonal keyboard chords for a couple minutes, something anybody could make in their sleep. It doesn't help that the track seems carelessly thrown in between two songs and does absolutely nothing to either bridge the transition between them or to contrast with them in some thoughtful way. Even when it can use 'trying something new' as an excuse, Putrifiers II's songs still need another edit or reworking to achieve what they were going for. I really want to talk about the title track, which is trying something new yet fails because of what an overlong and undercooked experiment it is...but I suspect you get the point by now. No need to flog a dead putrifier.
I understand that this all feels like I'm savaging the album. It's never my intention for these retrospectives to perform like an assassination, let alone an autopsy. Yet I can't find much positive to say about Putrifiers II. It is without question the most average, the most bland, the most forgettable Oh Sees album to date. In some ways, sure, its variety might make it a good gateway record for new fans, though it's a gateway you'll never return to once you're on the inside. What I mean is, it's not awful, it simply suffers from comparison. I defy anyone to name a single song on this record that is a true standout in the Oh Sees discography, one that has a musical idea or song-type that hasn't been done a dozen times before, and also done much better. I get that some people really dig Putrifiers II, and it baffles me—it's like saying Rogue One is your favorite Star Wars movie. It's an opinion, so therefore I can't really deny its validity, but I sure as hell will question its validity. For me, both projects are full of ideas that were done much better elsewhere, and what is “new” is done poorly. Nobody asked for a film telling the story of how they got the plans for the Death Star, and nobody needs Putrifiers II if they've heard other Oh Sees records.
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