“In order to have that incredible groove that makes you dream, you have to think not of the groove, but of the dream.” -Mike Gordon
“I'll play it first and tell you what it is later.” -Miles Davis
“I'm not crazy about country-western music. But the lyrics are good.” -Alice Cooper
During various points of my life, I was either actively learning/playing trumpet or making music using the limited instrumental inventory and software available to me. Sadly, I've never had the experience of collaborating with other people, let alone improvising music in the solo or collective sense. I am fascinated by artists who specialize in playing jazz, jam band, or improv/free music, because it's something I envy and would love to try my hand at. It feels like speaking a different kind of language with other people; being lost in this constantly evolving interplay and development must be like nothing else on Earth. Although I don't know John Dwyer personally, I can safely assume he feels the same, given his increasing appreciation and participation in jamming and improvisations. Sure, evidence of his affinity goes back to at least 2010's forgotten Sword & Sandals release, but it was only with Mutilator Defeated At Last that studio albums started to reflect his love for setting the controls for the heart of the sun, or hitchiking on a krautrock convoy, lost in the reverie of a serene velocity down the Autobahn. Once we were through listening to Smote Reverser for the first time, we had confirmation that the next few years would continue to provide some tasty jams. And so, during their Red Rocks performance in 2021, when he announced before 'Scutum & Scorius', “...this one's for all the Heads out there, smoke 'em if ya got 'em”, it felt like the first time that we (Dwyer and the audience) were no longer just winking at each other for liking this kind of lengthy spectacle and drug-friendly-but-not-required music. It was open season.
If there's one release in their discography that has come to define “this one's for all the [Osees] Heads out there” for me, it's Weirdo Hairdo, a three song (!), 41 minute long (!!) not-quite-album, not-quite-EP, that is longer than most previous Osees albums, including Protean Threat. Ah, but I digress. Weirdo Hairdo was released on December 17th, 2020, available physically only as a limited edition 'Pilsner' vinyl pressing. The Castleface site describes it as a limited edition 12”, and refers to there being four songs, which is both confusing and incorrect. The one thing I couldn't find any information on is when these three tracks were recorded. I'm guessing it must be from the Protean Threat sessions or some random recording session that didn't produce a new studio album. I think we can definitively say it wasn't leftovers from the Face Stabber sessions, since that's what Metamorphosed (partially) was composed of.
The title track starts us off, sounding like a hangover from Panther Rotate. It's almost as if they know their fans might be listening to everything in a chronological playlist and this makes a smooth transition from that to Weirdo Hairdo. Actually to me it kinda sounds like when you get a vinyl pressing with some defects and the needle will pop/skip in exactly the same part of a song every time you play it. Lucky things don't continue on like this, and 'Weirdo Hairdo' turns into another patented Osees 20 minute banger, a “kitchen sink” drive down to the deep jam goal line. Stuttered, echoing Dwyer vocals bounce around your brain, sort of like if 'Aumgn' by Can was on a sativa instead of an indica high. Tomas Dolas does a great job of squeezing all sorts of delightful blorbs, burbles, and bleats out of his synths throughout the 20 minute endurance race. Tim Hellman and the drummer duo do that perfect thing that rhythm sections ideally strive for during these sort of tracks where, if you don't pay close attention, they seem to merely be holding the reins of the groove, keeping the carriage steady, that sort of thing. But give a closer listen and there's all sort of interesting accents and divergences going on. What else to say? I love how druggy and hypnotic and looped out the ending sequence is; reminds me of an Animal Collective segue about to hit.
'Don't Blow Your Mind' was performed during the Protean Threat rehearsal posted on YouTube. This studio run-through has a lengthy jam section after the song portion ends and never returns to the chorus again. It's credited to Alice Cooper & The Spiders, but it's actually from the pre-Alice Cooper incarnation of that band, formerly known as The Spiders. Technicality or no, it's an amazing performance and a great cover. Alice Cooper may be overdue for a critical reevaluation and canonization like we've now afforded the Grateful Dead and ABBA. But I digress yet again. 'Don't Blow Your Mind' has some of the more nuanced and interplay-focused improv Osees have put forth. The forward momentum and ever shifting instrumental bedrock remind me, in spirit but not in results, of a particularly focused and energetic Tortoise track like 'Seneca' or 'The Suspension Bridge At Iguazu Falls.' Something about the chords Dwyer starts playing at the end as the jam peters out makes me imagine this segueing into the descending guitar line in the opening of 'Carrion Crawler.' Closing song 'Tear Ducks' is a cloudy meander, with a languid bassline and some particularly acid-peak sounding vocals from Dwyer. If I'm being honest it sounds more than a little like 'Crawl Out From The Fallout', but I can forgive that because of the subtle use of acoustic guitar late in the track, as well as how cool the whole thing sounds. To paraphrase I Heart Huckabees, is it a crime to like cool sounds?
I don't have too much more to say on Weirdo Hairdo. My only complaint is that it is what it feels like it is: a gathering of three different songs that are pretty different from each other. It doesn't hang together like a true album, with finessed sequencing and flow, in the way The White Album or the better Radiohead albums do. And there's nothing wrong with that! I won't dock points just because a release is patched together; it isn't trying to pass itself off as “the next studio album from Osees!” I could even see this being a top ten favorite for true Heads. For those who have slept on it, like I did, it's time to wake up and smell the bong smoke wafting out of the van windows.
Next time: Osees at Big Sur! Another live one!
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