Osees- A Foul Form

 

Let's get this joke out of the way: two years is an eternity in Osees studio album land. Coming cold on the heels of Protean Threat, Osees took an uncharacteristically long amount of time to deliver A Foul Form. Instead, they focused on hunkering down to survive the pandemic and released a string of live albums as well as clearing the (recent) vaults with odds-n-sods collections and a surprise remix album. Oh yeah, and main Sees-r, John Dwyer, also unleashed a set of improv/jam records under various guises with various lineups just for good measure. So while the drought between new Osees studio material may have felt interminable to stalwarts, we were hardly short of other drinks and tinctures to slay our thirst. Still, speculation ran rampant, as speculation is wont to do, as to what direction the then-theoretical next album would take. Would the transitional-feeling Protean Threat be seized upon more fully, leading the band to complete said transition and return more or less to their roots, skinning it back to the garage abandon of the Help era? Would they, as some fans hoped, 'course-correct' by reloading their save so that the modern robust five-man lineup could continue harvesting the heady mines of prog/psych/jazz/metal from the preceding era? Or maybe they would truly curve our expectations with something new, like bossa nova drum n' bass?

As it turns out, A Foul Form is neither a course-correction nor a true return to their garage era. Instead, the svelte 21 minute album challenges the gifted musicians to concentrate their sprawl and power into short, sharp shocks that call to mind the Black Flag covers on Live At Big Sur as well as, to some extent, the murky, formless post-punk of the Chrome covers on Levitation Sessions II. All of that said, A Foul Form is no slavish tribute/sacrifice to the old “kill-your-idols” idols; instead, it's one of the most outright alive and heavy sounding dispatches from one of the best modern rock bands going. Which is a bit ironic, given that a sickly Dwyer was finishing the mixing and vocals while suffering from a second bout of covid in late 2021. (Eerily, as I'm writing/editing this I'm still fighting off a really nasty non-covid illness that has had me sleeping ten hours a night for more than a week. But I digress.) According to the same Aquarium Drunkard interview I got that info from, this short hardcore/punk album was something the band had wanted to do for awhile...So while at first glance it certainly is a huge change from the preceding era it's certainly not a reactionary record. It must've just seemed like it was finally time. After all, if you can barely breathe you may as well yell and bellow.

So, yeah, this is less a Let It Be stripping it back-to-basics than it is a Reign In Blood/Damaged all-killer, no-filler love letter to the music they grew up on. Or perhaps a better comparison in Dwyer's own sprawling discography is a less blown-out and lo-fi take on what he was up to with Coachwhips and Pink & Brown. Make no mistake, though, it's still an Osees record through and through. There's always going to be an element of psychedelic and druggy oddness peaking through like a rainbow sprung from the darkness. The brief song fragment 'A Burden Snared' is a dense, layered, and transitory piece that honestly makes me think of Panther Rotate or (as said earlier) the hazy, formless, shifting Chrome heard on Alien Soundtracks. Album highlight and longest song 'Perm Act' uncouples Osees from their usual krautrock prog-motorik train cars and reattaches them onto a semi-truck starting/stopping in traffic between smooth reggae/dub influenced rhythms and up-and-down proggy instrumental calisthenics. Overall there's a real sense of fun and irreverence that was sometimes missing from previous releases, and I don't just mean surface level things such as offbeat/edgy track titles 'Social Butt' and 'Fucking Kill Me.' The title track is right up there with the finest stock of Osees' patented “hardest rocking song on the album” classics, and the loopy guitars backing the shouted chorus are irresistible. I picture someone rolling their eyes all around their sockets and belting out “a foul form! A foul form!” Assuming I ever make a playlist to exercise to again, a lot of this record is going on there. Make calisthenics great again!

Though A Foul Form was telegraphed a bit by Protean Threat, I don't know that I could have predicted how vital and successful the dip into classic punk and hardcore would be for Osees. If I'm being honest, I'm a little sad they didn't give us at least one more in the same vein of the post-Drop albums, but I suppose I do feel this way about every incarnation of this band. I just really love more or less everything they do, with even personal-least-favorites like Dog Poison or Putrtifiers II giving up gems on further revisits. All of which is to say, if we get another string of forms most foul, I'll just have to spend the next few Halloweens digesting the next batch watching skate video compilations and pounding Bang energy drinks instead of hitting the bong and watching horror movies at half speed.

Oh Sees Retrospective #35: The Chapel, SF 10.2.19

 

I have this kind of litmus test for determining what band is my current favorite, were I forced to pick by some kind of bizarro music critic tribunal/trial. It's no more complicated than this: do I ever get sick of listening to them? This is how past giants were slain by the twin swords of apathy and time. Where are you now, Smashing Pumpkins? You Radioheads, you Deerhoofs, you Collectives Of Animals? Eventually all defeated by the simple fact that I got sick of listening to them. It could be they put out a bad album or two, it could be my tastes changed, it could be they were Smashing Pumpkins, who should never be anyone's favorite band (but I tease!). I can't say if and when it will happen with Osees, but I will say that I definitely had to take a bit of an extended break from them yet again before doing the final entry in this Retrospective. The live albums were starting to run together to an extent, and I was running out of interesting things to say. All of that said, I think we're about to have a real good time together. They play 'C' on this one, so we're already looking good as Gholü.

I have to say, I was somewhat surprised to learn that this release isn't the full show. I guess I had gotten used to all these double vinyl album/live stream deals with a full hour plus, complete show? Anyway, for those curious, the setlist that night was 19 songs deep and you can find the details on Setlist.fm. As for what's actually on this release, here is the tracklisting--as ever, with the original album noted in parentheses:

1. The Static God (Orc)

2. Jettisoned (Orc)

3. Henchlock (Face Stabber)

4. Together Tomorrow (Face Stabber)

5. Animated Violence (Orc)

6. Gholü (Face Stabber)

7. Plastic Plant (A Weird Exits)

8. C (Smote Reverser)

9. Nite Expo (Orc)

10. Encrypted Bounce (Drop)

The somewhat awkwardly titled The Chapel, S.F. 10.2.19 was released on June 12^th, 2021. It had several different variants of the vinyl release, always as a double record with an etching on side D. It took me a second to figure this out but the cover art and general aesthetic are based on a defunct but legendary live concert bootleg company, Trade Mark Of Quality aka TMOQ. The usual core quintet of the modern Osees lineup is supplemented by Jamin Barton and Scott Reams on horns but as far as I can tell only on 'Henchlock.'

In a lot of ways, this live album is the antithesis to the Levitation Sessions releases. As the press release rightly says, “[t]he Oh Sees at the peak of their prog obsession, super jammed out and totally dominating.” Now, sure, that should technically say Osees, but we'll let that slide. The important thing is, The Chapel is another excellent live album from a band who suddenly flooded the world with a bunch in quick succession. While the Levitation Sessions live albums contained full concerts and drew from throughout the band's discography, The Chapel, S.F. 10.2.19 exclusively pulls its ten tracks from the modern era of the band, with the oldest track dating only to 2014's Drop. If you're mostly a fan of modern Osees, the jammy and proggy and psychedelic and experimental and two-drummers-and-a-bassist rhythm section Osees, then this is the live album for you.

Now, it's worth pointing out again, this live album doesn't contain the full show from that night. Maybe that bums you out, but to me it speaks to the band's taste to limit the album to only 53 minutes long. This setlist is very heavy, jammy, and psychedelic without much room to inhale something other than bong hits; while the natural instinct might be to steer completely into this vibe and make it a two hour behemoth, I'm glad they didn't. It's also worth noting this live album doesn't even strictly follow the actual setlist order. But, again, I'm fine with this, particularly given that the amazing Red Rocks show is free on YouTube and is both long and jammy, too, if you need your double dose of spacey rituals.

Listening to The Chapel on headphones especially I'm made aware of how tight they are as a live band, and also how many little nuances they bring to the material. Tomas Dolas is really great at adding extra little keyboard lines and synth sounds to songs, and the rhythm section is killing it, constantly. I've always preferred the double drummer lineups of this band, and now that I've gotten used to a dedicated bassist I really love how much this frees up John to focus on vocals, guitar, and occasionally synths/keyboards. Speaking of....seeing as how this is the second live album in a row with a lengthy 'Encrypted Bounce', it's tempting to compare the two. Personally, I prefer this one, not just because it's several minutes longer. I just think they do a lot more interesting things this time out, getting very spacey while the two drummers gradually move in and out of lockstep, adding accents and rolls. This of course leads me to the beguiling spaciness of John and Tomas playing synths/keyboards during parts of the jam; laid over the dual drummers, it almost reminds me of the Grateful Dead layering the second set's 'Space' and 'Drums' improv sections over each other.

I also really dig how Dwyer's vocals keep looping after they leave the stage. I just think looping in general is cool, as is reverb and delay effects, but I am also the kind of person who likes to smoke weed and write long essays about bands, so no duh I do.

But I digress. Maybe not my favorite of the modern live releases, but still well worth a spin while you're spun.

As for the future....well, there's still no new studio albums or other releases for Osees on the horizon. And if I'm being honest, I've mostly been listening to all the improv releases from the past couple years, and I'm kind of itching to challenge myself to write about music that is instrumental, entirely, and often abstract and 'out' in the jazz sense of the word. I'm also still toying with the idea of covering other John Dwyer projects from the past, but there's so god damn much to cover there and I can't even begin to figure out where to draw the lines. To anyone wishing I would still cover The 12” Synth, since it's technically an Osees release...again, maybe someday. Hell, maybe I'll even do something nuts and start covering King Gizzard, as some have suggested...I did, after all, recently learn how to control my gag reflex.

But I kid! They're alright.

Some of the feedback to this post will help me decide, I'm sure. As always, thank you all for reading and providing feedback/your own thoughts. May your slime always be warm, and your face thoroughly stabbed.

Oh Sees Retrospective #34: Levitation Sessions II

 

Pop quiz: what's the better sequel, Aliens or Terminator 2: Judgment Day? The answer probably says more about you than it does either film; I suspect you really had to stop and think about your answer. I know for me it's a real gut check, since it's not as simple as “which do you like better?” Conversely, let me ask you this: is either sequel better than the original? The idea of sequels has become so ingrained in our society that I don't think people reflect on it that much. I find it endlessly fascinating, though. What makes a good sequel? What makes for a bad sequel but still a good product? Is a sequel that is derivative but does everything better automatically superior? Questions like these arose again and again as I've been mulling over Levitation Sessions Volume II. I must admit I had been taking a bit of a break from writing over the holidays, until this past weekend when I couldn't avoid it anymore. Kind of in a literal sense because the next live album in the Retrospective series beckoned to me from the rack of a local record store. Well, you can't ignore fate, so I feel my time has come to say: it's a great sequel to Levitation Sessions I to say the least.

Also, Aliens is the better sequel. Just throwing it out there.

As usual, we'll go over the details about the release before getting to my thoughts. But first, here's the usual tracklisting, with the album/release in parentheses:

1. Tidal Wave (Singles Collection Vol. 1 & 2)

2. Grown In A Graveyard (Moon Sick EP)

3. The Dream (Carrion Crawler/The Dream)

4. Stinking Cloud (Castlemania)

5. Enemy Destruct (Help)

6. Poisoned Stones (Face Stabber)

7. Spider Cider (Castlemania)

8. It Killed Mom (Sucks Blood)

9. Meat Step Lively (Help)

10. Snickersee (Face Stabber)

11. Destroyed Fortress Reappears (Help)

12. Web (Mutilator Defeated At Last)

13. Encrypted Bounce (Drop)

14. Beat Quest (Smote Reverser)

15. Chromosome Damage > T.V. As Eyes (Chrome covers, Alien Soundtracks and Half Machine Lip Moves, respectively)

16. ST37 (Chrome cover, Alien Soundtracks)

17. Looking For Your Door (Chrome cover, Half Machine From The Sun: The Lost Tracks From '79-'80)

18. SS Cygni (Alien Soundtracks)

Levitation Sessions II as a stream premiered on April 10th, 2021 but the actual recording date is unknown. It was made available for download/purchase on April 23^rd. The info blurbs on the Levitation website say the the set was filmed in an old warehouse in Los Angeles somewhere. Speaking of, here's the important part of what old Johnny boy had to say about this show and release: “I personally got stoned and stuck my face into the muck of our past catalog to bob for some dusty tumescent gems. There will be some oldies, and some moldies and some surprises along the way. I’m quite happy with how this one turned out.”

Since I said earlier that this is a great sequel to the first Levitation Sessions release, let me quickly get to why this is. I think it does what that live album did, and does it better overall, and presents some interesting covers. To this I'd also add that the improv is more frequent and deeper than most previous live albums. 'The Dream', a song I've grown a bit tired of, earns its spot here with an interesting jam and eerily whispered lyrics from some other song near the end, while 'Encrypted Bounce' gets appropriately gooey and spacey as it continues to feather the accelerator past the eight minute mark. Anyway, let's take a peek back at the track choices for this release. If I'm being honest, it feels catered to my tastes; 'Destroyed Fortress Reappears' and 'It Killed Mom' are dream setlist additions in my book, and the two Castlemania cuts are absolute gems. And I gotta say the set closer 'Beat Quest' really reminded me of how fantastic it as, with John's wall of guitar loops giving away to the pounding and chugging closing section that always hypes me the fuck up. I keep forgetting there's still like 15 minutes of Chrome covers to follow!

I won't pretend that I'm an expert on the band. I only really know Alien Soundtracks and what I listened to for researching these covers. I do know that, like Black Flag, Chrome are another California underground favorite, and it makes total sense to me John and Co. would want to rep them with some covers. Chrome are definitely a difficult band to describe; they're one of those early post-punk groups who sound unlike every other post-punk group of that era. So while you could lump them in with the likes of Pere Ubu, The Fall, and Throbbing Gristle, they don't really sound or feel like them. The fragmentary song structures and experimental instrumentation/production of Alien Soundtracks have always been hard to convey to those who haven't heard Chrome already. But I digress. Osees do a great job reproducing these hypnotically strange sounds, giving 'Looking For Your Door' a Nick Cave/Grinderman-ish menace and doing some live sound muting/muffling on 'SS Cygni' to capture the murky, desaturated production style of Alien Soundtracks. Ultimately, they're fantastic covers, and if you're a fan of both bands it's an absolute dream come true to hear.

So I have to say, Levitation Sessions II is my so-far-favorite for the modern live albums. I really have no complaints about it, and I'm still surprised it was just hanging out there at the record store waiting for me! Anyway, next time: The Chapel, S.F. 10.2.19. Yup, another live one!

Oh Sees Retrospective #33: Live At Big Sur

 While I do still want to see them live someday, there is a small, cynical part of me that is glad I've never seen Phish in concert because they have such a high capacity to disappoint me. As I became a fan during the dark times (late 2004 to early 2009), I had a lot of time to catch up on old shows, diving deep into online fan tapes and the official LivePhish.com store/site. Having already heard a lot of the most recommended “best” and “fan favorite” concerts, I decided to listen to shows that I might have actually gone to in my area, to get a sense for what an 'average' show might have been like. While not outright terrible, Phish—especially in the post-hiatus, 2003-2004 incarnation—are sometimes known for playing sloppy or jam-light shows from time to time. And this is where my disappointment would always come in. I could forgive forgotten lyrics here or there, a flubbed section of a song here or there, but if a show had no tasty improv, or at the very least, some interesting segues between songs? Count me out. So, while I don't mean to rush the conclusion of this Retrospective entry, I have to say up-front that I was not looking forward to revisiting Live At Big Sur. Will I be just as let down this time? We'll find out in a bit.

Live At Big Sur was released on January 9^th, 2021. For whatever it's worth, it was recorded on December 19^th, 2020, so a pretty quick turnaround. It's officially known as Live At Big Sur, but sometimes also referred to as Live At The Henry Miller Library Big Sur. I'll be going with the shorter designation for sake of ease. The webcast, now posted for free on YouTube, is preceded by 12ish minutes of a bizarre improv jam over footage of...well, I'm still not sure for the most part. Best experienced for yourself. Now, please correct me if I'm wrong but I think this was purely a digital release, so no limited edition color variant vinyls to lust after. Maybe I'm alone in this but I find it exceedingly odd that there's been no physical release at all, even on CD. But I digress. It's not on the Bandcamp page for this release so for those wondering, here's what John Dwyer had to say about the performance/release: “We’ve dipped deep into the dark waters of our song-sack of holding and found several more never-before-performed-live tunes & paired them up with some oldies we’ve knocked the dust off of as well as some fan favorites and general surprises to make the merry very. That’s right, we’ve been paying attention. Recorded from dusk till dawn 2 at the gorgeous Henry Miller Library in Big Sur. Same killer crew, similar killer vibes. An enchanting pre-holiday evening to tell you that we miss and love you. Play it loud and have one on us. And keep your chin up for goodness sake."

As usual, here's the tracklisting, with the album the song is from in parentheses:

1. Rogue Planet (Mutilator Defeated At Last)

2. I Can't Pay You To Disappear (Dog Poison)

3. Opposition (Carrion Crawler/The Dream)

4. Crushed Grass (Carrion Crawler/The Dream)

5. Heavy Doctor (Carrion Crawler/The Dream)

6. Ticklish Warrior (A Weird Exits)

7. Gholü (Face Stabber)

8. Withered Hand (Mutilator Defeated At Last)

9. Voice In The Mirror (Dog Poison)

10. Tunnel Time (Floating Coffin)

11. Gelatinous Cube (A Weird Exits)

12. Poor Queen (Mutilator Defeated At Last)

13. Lupine Ossuary (Mutilator Defeated At Last)

14. Dead Medic (Dead Medic 12” single)

15. Jealous Again (Black Flag, Jealous Again 12” EP)

16. Nervous Breakdown (Black Flag, Nervous Breakdown 7” EP)

17. Wasted (Black Flag, Nervous Breakdown 7” EP)

18. Fix Me (Black Flag, Nervous Breakdown 7” EP)

19. Levande Begravd (Liket Lever, Levande Begravd/Hjärtats Slag 7” single)

20. J'ai Mal Aux Dents (Faust, The Faust Tapes)

Live At Big Sur is a very scattered release, in terms of choices of covers as well as the band's own songs. It's weird to have three songs from the same album in a row, and it's also weird to have four songs from the same album in total. Not sure if those were conscious choices or just how they wanted the set to flow and feel. Overall the songs are heavily biased towards short tracks and I think it's easily my least favorite setlist of their recent live releases. Before 'Dead Medic', a welcome rarity, there is only one song that is over four minutes long! I will say it's cool to get some bustouts and never-before-performed-live tracks but that only goes so far in my book.

As for the covers...Well, I'm not that huge of a Black Flag fan. I've always been of the opinion that hardcore punk bands got truly interesting when they started to get weirder. I mean, do more people know Double Nickels On The Dime or Paranoid Time? Given their recent style and penchant for improv I think it's odd Osees only did songs from Black Flag's very early hardcore punk era, before they started to get more ambitious musically and had tracks that routinely went past four minutes. I'd love to hear Osees tackle the legendarily sludgy, stoner metal-esque side two of My War: three songs in 18 minutes, an eternity by hardcore punk standards. Featuring Greg Ginn's guitar insanity at its first true flowering, side two is sort of like if early Bardo Pond had an angry frontman. Anyway. They're well done and faithful covers, and...that's it.

As for the Liket Lever cover, I'm not even going to pretend like I know who this band is. They're apparently a punk band from Sweden who, as far as I can tell, only released one 7” and then disappeared from the historical record. Much like the Black Flag covers, it's well done and faithful, but I can't think of much else to say about it. The Faust cover is much more exciting, given that Osees constantly get compared to Can (for good reason, mind you!) but not other krautrock mainstays they also definitely draw from. Faust aren't as well known for their lengthy jams but give a listen to the original version of 'J'ai Mal Aux Dents' or their quintessential song 'Krautrock' and you'll hear the parallels quite easily. Though in some sense just as well done and faithful as the other covers, this one benefits from having more of an open musical template to play with, as the original song isn't a digestible pop song either. It's also nice given how short and jam-less most of the rest of the show is to finally hear them get psychedelic with it.

Which is, in addition to the somewhat strange song choices, my biggest gripe with this live album. I gotta have my jams, Johnny boy...and Live At Big Sur is like dry toast. That said, if you really like 'Dead Medic' and the studio albums this draws heavily from, you might find a lot to enjoy here.

Next time: Levitation Sessions....II!

Oh Sees Retrospective #32: Weirdo Hairdo

 

“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 17^th, 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!

Oh Sees Retrospective #30: Metamorphosed (& More)

 

Part of what's great about being a fan of Osees is that they know they have a rabid fanbase who never feel overloaded with releases. Most of us, I'd wager, obsess over music in general, not just Osees releases, and the band see something of themselves in their fans in this way. Just as John Dwyer would be psyched to discover the side projects of Can or archival Miles Davis fusion era boxsets, he must also know his fans love releases like Metamorphosed, a weird wobbly beast of an album with three short leftover Face Stabber outbursts on side A, and two lengthy jams (recorded in one day while in Mexico for a festival) on side B.

And then I had to go and make things even more jumbled by also wanting to talk about two singles that are unrelated to anything on Metamorphosed in this Retrospective. You're welcome!

Metamorphosed was released on October 16^th, 2020. It has been given many, many different pressings and variants, so I won't even attempt to list them all given how wrong my info was on Levitation Sessions 1. As alluded to earlier, in this Retrospective I'll also be talking about two singles: 'Dark Weald' and 'Blood On Your Boots.' The former was released with no b-side on November 3^rd, 2020 as a digital download, as well as a few limited 7” vinyl pressings. The latter was released on November 5^th, 2020, as part of the compilation Be Gay, Do Crimes put out by Girlsville Records. The compilation was officially released on August 1^st, so I'm guessing the November 5^th date was when Osees could sell it separately. Anyway, we're going to start with the two singles and then get back to Metamorphosed.

'Dark Weald' was first heard in a slightly more embryonic form in the 'rehearsal' performance the band released on YouTube leading up to Protean Threat. Though I couldn't find any info to confirm this, 'Dark Weald' is presumably an outtake from those sessions that just didn't quite fit in anywhere on the album. I can kind of understand that—it's a bit weirder and not as hard hitting as the rest of the songs on Protean Threat and I can't think of a good spot it could slot into. It has an overall sound that feels like it could've been made by the Floating Coffin era lineup until about halfway through when it descends into super 70s prog keyboard territory for the rest of the runtime. 'Dark Weald' is a real hidden gem in their non album/non EP material, well worth the $1 to add it to your rotation. If I'm being honest I think a song like this helps define and necessitate singles collections. They're so overdue for Singles Collection Volume 4 and 'Dark Weald' would be a great addition. 

'Blood On Your Boots' I have less to say about, and even less info about. Based on its sound it has to be from the current lineup, maybe even being another Protean Threat castaway, but I couldn't find anything about its origins. The song has a surging, ascending quality and feels as though it ends right as it's truly getting going. I'd love for them to bust this out live, maybe segueing into or out of another song to take advantage of its momentum. Unlike 'Dark Weald' I could totally see this being somewhere in the latter half of Protean Threat.

OK, now for the main attraction: Metamorphosed. 'Saigant' absolutely tears down the house from the second you drop the needle, and is arguably heavier than a lot of what passes for metal today. I can definitely see why it was left off of Face Stabber, because it already had its necessary amount of kick-down-the-door, tear-the-roof-off short songs. Letting off the throttle a bit, 'Electric War' settles into a pounding drum-and-bass-led throbbing pulse as twirling guitars and burbling keyboards coat the background. Side A draws to a close with one final Face Stabber orphan, 'Weird And Wasted Connection', which seems a bit undercooked and appropriately outtake-y. All the usual Osees sonic elements are there, but used in kind of boring and half-committed ways. Despite being sub-two minutes it overstays its welcome.

Next we flip this beast over to side B, where the real meat of Metamorphosed lies. According to an interview with Dwyer on the Coachella Valley Independent website posted around the time of the Levitation Sessions 1 broadcast:

“That album (Face Stabber) is just such a behemoth, and was too much to listen to for some people.[...]There’s a lot of material that wasn’t throwaways, but just didn’t fit with the aesthetic of the record. I saved those for another EP, and it took a while to get enough material for it. Then we went down to play a festival in Hermosillo in Mexico, and part of the deal for playing the festival was that we’d get to spend a day at the beach and have a day of studio time there. We went in there and just jammed, and got two pretty great tracks.[...]It was supposed to be an EP, but it turned into a 40-minute album. That’s just the way it goes with us; we have constant creation.”

While I wonder if his experience jamming more on tour and on studio releases like Metamorphosed and Face Stabber led Dwyer to start up his improv/jazz side projects, I should try to focus on discussing these two long jams that are in front of me. Though it's the shorter of the two, I find 'The Virologist' more repetitive and tedious. It's essentially just a long vamp with soloing over the top. The bass and drums are doing almost exactly the same thing for more than 13 minutes straight while Dwyer and Dolas make spacey noises and occasional ear piercingly loud guitar interjections. I can see some Osees devotees really digging this track, but much like 'Nervous Tech (Nah John)' from An Odd Entrances it doesn't do anything for me. 'I Got A Lot', however, does something for me. It's still not as good of a long jam track as 'Henchlock' but it reminds me a bit of early Can ('Yoo Doo Right') or Velvet Underground ('Sister Ray') in terms of being a long, brute simple, repetitive track with hypnotic vocals that are constantly shifting in delivery and style, and coming in and out of the song. All of that said, I think both of these jam tracks sound more or less like what you'd expect from unedited improv. They're the sort of tracks that are great to play as background music for something else, like grinding levels in RPGs or watching those color changing candles melt while you're on edibles. But as 'songs' you'll give your full attention to, they unfortunately don't work as well. I'm sure it was really fun to play them but listening to them with undivided focus and/or while sober is a bit dull.

Well, much like John Dwyer, I got a lot on my mind, because I've never actually listened to Panther Rotate and it's next on the Retrospective itinerary. As I finish writing this sentence I'm about to hit play...

Oh Sees Retrospective #29: Levitation Sessions 1

As a fan of jam bands and jazz/improv music, I have a strong affinity for live albums. There is just really something about hearing people create in the moment, weaving new music and collectively improvising something that no one could plan or write. While I've certainly seen my share of great concerts that had no jamming/improv elements, it's something that, once you get into it, you seem to expect it out of every show going forward. Anyway, aside from this point, what other criteria make for a great live album? Well, there's no objective formula, but I think it can usually be categorized as one of three things: 

1) Historic nature of performance-- Jimi Hendrix's various live releases of his Woodstock performance would constitute a good example. It's not a great show by his usual standards but it's historic AF.

2) Excellent performance from one of the best concerts on the tour--Miles Davis's Live-Evil is taken from the last two dates of a multi-night performance. (You can hear for yourself on the Cellar Door Sessions box set, the last two nights were where it all came together, too)

3) Unique tracklisting (rare songs, unexpected songs/covers, different kind of performance than usual)--Phish's various Halloween shows have certainly embodied this. (Bonus points if you include their November 2nd, 1998 concert, which followed their Halloween night performance of The Velvet Underground's Loaded. The band decided to perform Dark Side Of The Moon during the second set as a response to low ticket sales. The show also ends with a rough cover of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' just cuz)

Some live albums have more than one of these elements, naturally, yet all great live albums have to have at least one. Since Osees have spent the last year and a half saturating us with live albums, let's start seeing how they shake out. We'll go chronologically as per usual, bringing us to Levitation Sessions, which I'll henceforth be referring to as Levitation Sessions 1 so we don't get confused when we get to the second one.

Here's the tracklisting, as well as the release each song is from in parentheses:

1) Carrion Crawler (Carrion Crawler/The Dream)

2) I Come From The Mountain (Floating Coffin)

3) The Static God (Orc)

4) Sewer Fire (Moon Sick EP)

5) Chem Farmer (Carrion Crawler/The Dream)/Nite Expo (Orc)

6) Dreary Nonsense (Protean Threat)

7) The Fizz (Dog Poison EP)

8) Corrupt Coffin (Castlemania)

9) Together Tomorrow (Face Stabber)

10) Night Crawler (Floating Coffin)

11) Terminal Jape (Protean Threat)

12) Rainbow (Help)

13) Heartworm (Face Stabber)

14) Transparent World Jam (Drop)

15) Block Of Ice (The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In)

Before we scuttle on, I need to address a couple things. So, 'Transparent World' is listed as 'Transparent World Jam' on some of the tracklistings, though I'm not sure why. It's the full song with lyrics, and not just a jam on part of it. On the YouTube upload it isn't listed as a jam, so I've no idea what's going on here. Also, after 'Block Of Ice' ends and there's a bit of silence, there's an unnamed short jam the band is playing that lasts for about a minute. Not sure if you'd count this as a bonus track or just something they were tooling around with as a warmup or what. Anyway, I digress.

Levitation Sessions 1 was filmed in the parking lot of Pappy And Harriet's, a bar/restaurant in a pioneer town in (where else?) Pioneertown, California. From the webcast I think they literally did set up in the parking lot while Pappy And Harriet's were shut down for covid-19. The desert minimalist look of their setup reminds me a bit of Pink Floyd's Live At Pompeii. (Intentional, or coincidental? You decide!) The webcast premiered on September 26th, 2020, though it's unclear which day it was recorded on. A digital download release followed on October 9th, 2020, along with physical releases, which I'll get to in a bit. Worth noting first is the March 9th, 2021 upload of the webcast on the Levitation YouTube channel. Anyway, physical releases: so far, other than the obscure cassette release, Levitation Sessions 1 has only been issued on vinyl once. I'll just go ahead and copy the explanation from Discogs.org: 

“Each edition includes a 7” with the final track from the show, "Block Of Ice" split over two sides & pressed on Desert Sand colored vinyl.

3 Editions planned to be limited to 1000 each

Due to a very high demand / success and because benefits of specifics release are donated to charity or venue the "1000 each" limitation was lift off

- NIVA Edition - proceeds will be donated to the @nivassoc Emergency Relief Fund. (https://www.discogs.com/release/19149424 )

- ZEBULON Edition - benefitting @zebulonla in Los Angeles, California (https://www.discogs.com/release/19144819)

- HOTEL VEGAS Edition - benefitting @hotelvegastexas in Austin, Texas (https://www.discogs.com//release/191253”

Got that? The important bit is that each edition is still the same color as the rest, so don't break the bank, collectors.

As you can tell from the tracklisting, quite a lot of the band's history is represented on Levitation Sessions 1, albeit filtered through the lens of the modern five-piece, double drummer lineup. That said, though, there really isn't much of the jamming or improv I associate with this live lineup until the typically lengthy workout of 'Block Of Ice.' Sure, the segue from 'Chem Farmer' into 'Nite Expo' is buttery smooth, but there isn't much else that shows off their chops. And much like 'The Dream' has garnered a reputation for being played too often by the band, I'm similarly getting frustrated with live releases that only truly cut loose with 'Block Of Ice.' I know they jam out more often, and on other songs to boot, so why play it safe here? Well, the focus was on other things tonight. Namely, an extremely high energy/heavy rocking set of songs, and a mouth watering tracklist of rarities. 

Opening with 'Carrion Crawler' instantly scores points from me, and featuring back-to-back obscure faves 'The Fizz' and 'Corrupt Coffin' with proper full-band arrangements? Take my money! The cherry on top has to be 'Sewer Fire', though, which brings me to my most important point about this live album: if it's not clicking with you the way their others do, take John's advice to heart, “meant to be played loud.” Hearing 'Sewer Fire' on headphones loud as fuck will get you where you need to be to vibe with this live album. Think sativa, not indica: the setlist is leaned very strongly toward high energy, hard rocking songs, with only 'Transparent World' and the aptly named 'Night Crawler' slowing the pace, though maintaining the brutality. Crank the bass and that keyboard/bass combo on the latter song will flatten your chest. 

People who loved the brisk song lengths of Protean Threat and the band's earlier harder rocking/punk/garage side will no doubt love this record. While it's not my pick for the band's best live album, Levitation Sessions 1 absolutely sets a high standard for future sets to compare to. 

Next time, though, we're headed back: back to the studio, and back to the Face Stabber sessions. Meaning? Meaning, we'll take a mosey around Metamorphosed as well as detour a spell for the singles 'Dark Weald' and 'Blood On Your Boots.'

Oh Sees Retrospective #28: Protean Threat

 

I know a lot of people who maintain the same look for most of their lives. It's as though they reach a point and they say, y'know what, this is going to be what I look like for the next 30 years. Same general style, same haircut, same overall health, etc. Not me, though. Over the course of my life I've been very restless, sometimes exercising regularly, sometimes living like a sloth...sometimes shaving my hair and facial hair off entirely, other times letting my hair go for more than a year. I seem to just...get bored of being the same way all the time. It's interesting to see a new face in the mirror every once in awhile. I feel like John Dwyer understands this fundamental truth, and this is why he changes Thee Oh Sees to Oh Sees to O Sees to...wait, wait, don't tell me...

Oh wait, after Face Stabber they became Osees. Right? Right. Well, then.

Welcome back to the Retrospective series! And so we enter the new era, the Osees era. Another name change, another change in direction? Let's find out.

The elephant in the room before we get to the actual Protean Threat album is the preceding rehearsal webcast/performance, on March 21, 2020. I have to admit to only watching/listening to this a couple times since it happened, and I don't know that I want to do a full-on side-by-side comparison. In fact, I know I don't want to do one. I will say that for fans of this record, it's a unique look into songs before they were quite 'finished.' To these ears the performances sound pretty darn close to the album versions (with one exception), albeit this rehearsal performance has a shuffled order. Here's the rehearsal tracklist, for those curious, with their position on the eventual album in parentheses:

1. Terminal Jape (5)

2. If I Had My Way (9)

3. Mizmuth (8)

4. Red Study (4)

5. Scramble Suit II (1)

6. Gong Of Catastrophe (11)

7. Canopnr '74 (12)

8. (I think this might have been changed a lot since the rehearsal, or I'm totally wrong and this is some unreleased song, but I think this is Wing Ruin. Nothing else on the album matches closer to it...) (6)

9. Dreary Nonsense (2)

10. Said The Shovel (7)

11. Toadstool (10)

12. Upbeat Ritual (3)

13. Persuaders Up! (13)

14. At first I thought it was a cover of 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' by The Clash but, nope. It's their cover of 'Don't Blow Your Mind' by Alice Cooper & The Spiders. Not sure if it should be counted as a separate track but at some point I think they're just jamming.

Finally, to Protean Threat proper. Released on September 18, 2020, it followed Face Stabber by just over a year. It featured the same core group from those sessions, with no additional/guest musicians this time out. Dylan McConnell, who has done several covers for Osees over the past few years, in addition to side projects like Moon-Drenched, gives us a typically abstract dose of jagged, vaguely digital looking reflective shards, like an early 80s post-punk album cover designed on a Windows 3.1 Printshop program. In keeping with trying to gather all the info about various pressings, my research on Discogs.com turns up pressings in 'Half Glass Of Kool-Aid', Neon Orange, Neon Pink (a Rough Trade exclusive that came with a sampler CD of earlier Osees songs), and black.

Just as Face Stabber answered the question, “what would it have been like if a punk band eventually made a prog rock record?”, Protean Threat answers the question, “what if that band then immediately went back to making punk rock, but forgot to turn off their effects pedals and keyboards?” In other words, it's a glorious bit of whiplash for a band who seemed destined to make either the next Tales From Topographic Oceans or, shudder, the next Be Here Now. Instead, we got a transformation that is more akin to what it would have been like if after Kid A Radiohead had said, “dy'know what, let's have a bit of that grunge/Pixies stuff again lads”, and it was actually really good.

If I'm being honest, however, I have to say on first listen I was underwhelmed by Protean Threat. It wasn't that I disliked it, since the rehearsal had prepared me for the change in material and song lengths. Moreso my initial impression was of a band who were simultaneously trimming the fat and just kind of sounding like themselves. In my younger years this lack of constant innovation and/or pushing to extremes would have derailed my enjoyment of this record. But nowadays I can look past my own taste preferences and enjoy this album for what it's trying to be, and what it succeeds at.

Further listens have revealed a wealth of great songs and moments.' Said The Shovel' and 'Terminal Jape' prove for the umpteenth time that this band has a hell of a lot of range and the ability to shift between styles. The former is a ghostly slow rhythmic groove that gives way to 60s keyboard stabs and an off-kilter bassline, and the latter, a new contender for “heaviest fucking song since the last album's heaviest fucking song.” 'Toadstool' kind of sounds like Primus or a jammier Residents. Am I crazy? Anyway, it's the longest track and shows how this new, svelte style of song lengths doesn't mean a dearth of undeveloped ideas or multiple filler tracks of half-baked sub-three-minute clangor. 'Toadstool' almost repeats in a circular song structure, like riding on a carousel while the band is all around you.

Now, can we just take a minute and talk about how incredible the Osees rhythm section is? Tim Hellman, Dan Rincon, and Paul Quattrone own tracks like 'Gong Of Catastrophe', a fitfully sleepy Can-esque jam that puts on autopilot as it cruises into the desert sky hitting its afterburners here or there before coming in for a controlled landing. The trio gallop all over instant classic 'Dreary Nonsense', sure to be a banger in setlists for years to come. Lastly I have to gush over the Stereolab-like pop-kraut groove on 'Canopnr '74', propelled by Hellman's throbbing bass.

Now, all of that said, my current tastes tend toward the psychedelic, the jammy, the elongated, the languid, so I find I can't quite reach the level of adoration for Protean Threat as I have with the last limb they were going out on. I was happy to continue cruising along the Mutilator-to-Stabber ley lines to further revelation, terror, and terrible revelations. True, we don't exactly know if Protean Threat is the start of a new branch on the Osees tree, with dense but brisk songs sounding mostly like their sound up until now, because they haven't had a true studio followup to it. Anyway, maybe a better way to put it is: Protean Threat is like microdosing, I enjoy it in theory but I honestly think I'd want it to be more intense and to last longer.

While we eagerly await the next studio album, we'll continue the Retrospective by taking a heavy swing onto the tree next door, harvesting studio outtakes/jams, a remix(!) album, and live albums. Oh boy do we have us some live albums to get to!

Oh Sees Retrospective #27: Smote Reverser

A wise man once sang, “people change/but you know some people never do.” The paradox of Oh Sees has always been that they're always the same and they're always changing. What this means is that you may go on a two or three album stretch without one you thoroughly enjoy. You may wish they'd return to certain styles that were more prevalent on previous records. You may also ride the waves and change with them, getting at least something out of every release. And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife, and you may...whoops, sorry. Couldn't help myself. Let's talk about Smote Reverser.

Unleashed from the depths on August 17^th, 2018, Smote Reverser was the true beginning of the band steering into heavier prog rock, metal, and jam band influences. It showcased the core modern-era foursome of John Dwyer, Paul Quattrone, Dan Rincon, and Tim Hellman, supplemented by (soon to join as a full time member) Tomas Dolas on keyboards, vocals from Brigid Dawson, and um...'marching boots' by recording engineers Enrique Tena Padilla and Mario Ramirez. There is a credit given to Heather Lockie of 'sampled viola' on 'Last Peace', though I'm not sure if this means it's a sample taken from a recording she did or if they had her play in the studio and sampled that. I'm not familiar with her credited groups on Discogs though her website reveals she's a multi-discipline artist and creator, so big ups to her. Anyway, hardcore completionists and/or record collectors will have their hands full with this album, as it saw four different color variants in addition to the basic black edition. Now, I know not everybody is a fan of the cover art but I think it's dope as hell. I would totally put it on the side of my van. I was psyched when the creature reappeared in the 'Poisoned Stones' music video. It's worth noting that the artist behind the cover, Matt Stawicki, is a longtime fantasy/scifi artist, who has done a ton of book covers as well as (of great personal interest to me) a couple Magic: The Gathering cards.

Smote Reverser is an interesting album to end this retrospective series on, for a number of reasons. First, from reading/watching reviews and forum posts, it seems to be a very divisive record. It has a fairly even split between people who think it's one of the Oh Sees's best and started them in a great new direction and people who think it's overly indulgent and has more bad songs than good. Second, I'm sure people are wondering why I'm not also doing Face Stabber, which is a valid question. As stated in the previous retrospective, my opinion of it hasn't change since I wrote my initial review, and since I have nothing new to say about it seven months later, there isn't much point. Lastly, it's an interesting one to end on because Smote Reverser is one of the releases that my opinion changed the most about since I first heard it. You might say I was smitten and then it was reversed.


Sorry, I know, that was really reaching. Let's dig in.

The first couple listens, I loved it and thought it was a masterpiece. I understood the complaints by people who didn't like it, though I chalked that up to the fact that they didn't vibe with the direction Oh Sees were going in. As time has gone on, though, I see Smote Reverser as more of a mixed bag that averages out to 'merely good.' I quite like some tracks, while others are either underdeveloped or overbaked. We may as well start with 'Anthemic Aggressor', since at twelve minutes long it's the most remarkable track on the record. And I mean “remarkable” in the literal sense, that there's a lot to remark about. Now, I don't dislike 'Anthemic Aggressor' because it's so long. I'm on record as a huge fan of jam bands like Phish improvising for twenty minutes or more, and I'm a founding member of U.H.B.: United 'Henchlock' Boosters. No, to me 'Anthemic Aggressor' is bad because it's simultaneously underdeveloped and overbaked. It's essentially just an instrumental jam session that isn't particularly good. The soloing is often dull and uninspired, and some of the sounds are grating and atonal in a bad away. You can find much better examples on Face Stabber and previously released live albums/tracks of this sort of improv. I also feel like the musical bedrock of the track is one of the weaker repetitive riffs/vamps Oh Sees have ever done. The drumming is spastic, and not in a good way, and the bass is so simplistic it's dull as unpolished shit. I feel like some of the issues I had with 'Warm Slime' are present here, though I'll remind you, I actually like 'Warm Slime', and I almost always skip 'Anthemic Aggressor' when I put the album on. While I'm throwing shade, allow me to darken the doorsteps of 'Enrique El Cobrador' and 'Nail House Needle Boys', two tracks that are pretty weak and forgettable. The latter features a drum/percussion break that is so mundane it almost has to be a joke.

The borderline-frustrating thing about Smote Reverser is that there's also a lot to love, things I want to take out of the shade and to hold up so they can shine in the sunlight. Overall I'm excited by the new metal/prog/jam band direction that Smote Reverser sailed toward. I also delight in Tomas Dolas; he brings a lot to the table and I'm glad he joined full-time after this album. I appreciate how prevalent keyboards have become in the current Oh Sees sound. More importantly, Smote Reverser has some of the band's best material. 'Beat Quest' is a fantastic closing song, emphasizing the dual drummers throughout its runtime and making for a much better drum showcase than the weak breakdown in 'Nail House Needle Boys.' Also have to give some love for the gooey keyboard/synths around the 2:45 mark, as well as how the track starts out melancholy and develops into a jubilant organ-led ending. The other bookend of the record, 'Sentient Oona', perfectly sets the atmosphere for the songs to come, with some great “ooh ooooh” backing vocals from Brigid Dawson and a whipsnap entry into the main riff before it cools down again. 'C', meanwhile, is like Red Lobster's Lobsterfest for people who love crunchy and boogie-ing 70s-inspired guitarwork. Perhaps the biggest surprise is 'Overthrown', which just stabs your face with its heaviness. Unless you have epilepsy, I highly recommend the video for 'Overthrown', especially with the lights off, and especially if you're enjoying some psychoactive substances.

Weak songs aside, I suspect I would still enjoy Smote Reverser as much as I did on first listen if Face Stabber didn't exist. It's hard not to look back on it as a warmup for Face Stabber. To me it does most of what this album does well and does it even better. I'm not at all saying Smote Reverser is retroactively irrelevant or not worth a listen. I have my issues with it, sure, but I still listen to it on a somewhat regular basis when I'm in the mood for Oh Sees. It's totally valid not to share the opinion that Face Stabber is a better version of Smote Reverser; it's got some really strong highlights as I discussed in the previous paragraph. The best comparison I can think of is that Smote Reverser is like taking several different food items from different cuisines and mixing them all together, whereas Face Stabber is like a carefully planned five course meal. It just has so much more variety in sounds and textures and ideas, and all of it works well together and flows nicely. Smote Reverser doesn't flow well, it's more of a stock market graph with ups and downs, screams and laughs.

Kind of like this retrospective series, really.

Oh Sees Retrospective #26: Live In San Francisco

The first music festival I ever went to was the 2007 Pitchfork festival in Chicago. Partly I was going since I had a good friend who lived there and we hadn't seen each other in awhile. Mostly I was going for the music, and specifically the first night which was presented by All Tomorrow's Parties and their 'Don't Look Back' concert series. Basically, ATP invited bands to play one of their 'classic' albums live in full. This edition had Slint performing Spiderland, GZA performing Liquid Swords (sadly wasted on me since I didn't like hip hop at the time), and Sonic Youth performing Daydream Nation. Ever since then, I've fantasized about seeing other bands performing their best records. When artists actually do a tour or a single performance of a 'classic' album, it's usually years after the initial release. Not so with Memory Of A Cut Off Head, which was performed in full during a short OCS tour in late 2017, including two San Francisco shows. While I would certainly give up my clear vinyl copy of Thee Hounds Of Foggy Notion to see Oh Sees perform Help or Face Stabber, it is nice to have one live album that features a beloved record.


Culled from shows on December 17^th and 18^th of 2017, Live In San Francisco would be released on June 28^th, 2018. One thing I can tell you right off the bat is that it's one of the modern releases with the hardest to find information, in terms of websites not reviewing/covering it. I don't see it discussed much online, even on Reddit and other fan/music forums. I get the sense it snuck out there and only the truly hardcore/record collectors were able to get their hands on the various limited edition vinyl versions. The other big reason it's a hard release to research is that its title is exactly the same as the Oh Sees Live In San Francisco, so if you put “OCS Live In San Francisco” into Google most of the results end up being about the Oh Sees one. Anyhow, the OCS lineup for these shows bizarrely didn't feature Nick Murray or Patrick Mullins, who contributed to the studio album. Instead the cast includes John Dwyer, Brigid Dawson, Tim Hellman, Tomas Dolas, and Paul Quattrone, supplemented by a string section made up of Emily Elkin, Eric Clark, Heather Lockie, and Heidi Maureen Alexander. Elzo Durt, who provided the cover art, also did the awesome art for Carrion Crawler/The Dream. I recommend checking out his website, he's got a fantastic 60s concert poster throwback style. The last bit of business I need to address is that I purchased the digital version from Bandcamp since it's not on Spotify and some of the track names are fucked up or weirdly shortened. Another instance where I can't tell if somebody was lazy or didn't doublecheck their work. 'Neighbor Ton None'? 'On & On Cooridor'? Hey, you know what one of my favorite songs off Thee Hounds Of Foggy Notion is? 'Dreadful Day.' You can't see it but I'm shaking my head right now.


Live In San Francisco is mostly a faithful performance of the studio versions of the Memory Of A Cut Off Head songs. As I said earlier, it's literally the album in full, in exact order, with some 'bonus' old favorites at the end. Like with the Pitchfork 2007 'Don't Look Back' performances I saw, there are a few little wrinkles here and there to make this live release a worthy companion to the studio versions. Dwyer uses a bit of echo/delay on his guitar, often between songs, and it's a cool effect. The noise/drone section at the end of 'The Baron Sleeps And Dreams' gets some big cheers from the audience, which always makes me smile. 'Time Tuner' gets a bit of David Bowie 'Heroes'-esque sustain guitar from Dwyer, giving it even more of a Nico vibe, and it's a bit slower and longer than the studio version. I enjoy the Dwyer banter sprinkled throughout, including him pronouncing the band's name at the start as “Oh See Ess”, so now we all know it's not “Oh Sees.” Oh, and there's a bit during 'The Chopping Block' where someone says something I can't quite make out but it makes Dwyer crack up and makes me realize how much this song sounds like David Bowie's 'Space Oddity.'


Otherwise, there isn't much to say about this release that I didn't already say about Memory Of A Cut Off Head, so I'll cover the final three throwback tracks for curious parties. Once the string players leave the stage, we get a nice Thee Hounds Of Foggy Notion throwback with 'Dreadful Heart' and 'Iceberg.' The former is prefaced by a dedication to a friend of Dwyer, and is really close to the Hounds version. 'Iceberg' gets a weirdly self-deprecating “This is another old that we played for nobody a long time ago...” comment from him and a dedication to someone named Garth. There's a bit more to 'Iceberg' in this performance, including some gorgeous Rhodes organ, presumably from Tomas Dolas. And then there's 'Block Of Ice', and hoo boy!


To date, this is the longest track on any Oh Sees release. It starts out like the version on The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In, with a fatter bottom end thanks to organ/keyboards from Tomas Dolas. They extend the hell out of the song and Dwyer absolutely cuts loose on his electric guitar just like the epic, live album closing 'Contraption' on Oh Sees' Live In an Fransisco. Send 'em home with their minds blown! I can only imagine listening to this on acid. Around the eight minute mark you can really tell why Dwyer brought on Dolas full-time. He's a decent improviser in his own right and tries to keep up with the guitar madness going on. They return to the main riff and lyrics around 14 minutes in, and if you aren't paying attention to the runtime you might think they're about to wrap it up. Nope. You still have like ten minutes left, dig in! Around 15:35 it mutates into 'Ghost In The Trees'—why the tracklisting doesn't reflect this, I have no idea—before going off into more jamming and wrapping up with another runthrough of the 'Ghost In The Trees' riff/lyrics. Over the course of this performance, Dwyer does everything from silky delay trails/loops to grimy noise blurts and groans to bluesy riffs. It never quite flows logically but that doesn't really matter. It's all about the pure spectacle, like that live Frank Zappa album where they play 'Louie Louie' using the giant Victorian organ at the Royal Albert Hall. After the calmer/hushed tone of the rest of the Live In San Francisco album, it's a jarring change, though not strictly in a bad way.


In all honesty, if you own Live In San Francisco, you don't really need Memory Of A Cut Off Head. This may be a bit controversial, since some people always prefer to have studio versions of music. For me, though, Live is superior in every way. It's like having the original album plus three interesting, unique throwbacks as a meaty bonus, kinda like ordering a 12 oz. steak and getting three sliders as the side. Well, I guess one of the sliders should be a double bacon cheeseburger. Alright, let's stop torturing the metaphor. For fans of Memory, this is an excellent companion piece. For people who aren't especially big on the album, however, the three bonus songs are worth the price of admission alone. I've sure spent $7 on worse things.

Oh Sees Retrospective #25: Memory Of A Cut Off Head

As I near the end of this retrospective series, it seems fitting that I'd eventually get back around to talking about OCS. Now, you might argue that since I'm not covering Damaged Bug and other John Dwyer side projects, I shouldn't technically be writing about Memory Of A Cut Off Head. Yes, part of the reason he revived the OCS name is that he now considers Oh Sees and OCS to be distinct entities, though this is a bit of a sleight of hand. Early releases under the OCS name are certainly distinct in style and tone from, say, Help or Smote Reverser, but in the early-era of the band the subtle name changes slowly blurred OCS into The Ohsees and then into Thee Oh Sees and finally into Oh Sees. The lineup from the early OCS days also slowly morphed into the mid-era foursome, so even if I am cheating a bit on this one, I still think it's a relatively fair cheat. And anyway, Memory Of A Cut Off Head features contributions from Nick Murray and Tim Hellman, who were/are from the modern-era Oh Sees lineup, as well as future Oh Sees member Tomas Dolas, so there!


Like many surprise Oh Sees releases, the revival of the OCS name and announcement of an album seemed to come out of nowhere. Memory Of A Cut Off Head was released on November 17^th, 2017, mere months after Orc. Technically speaking, this record is billed as a collaboration between Dwyer and Brigid Dawson. This is interesting because she was never nearly as a big presence on old OCS records. They were dominated by Dwyer...which makes sense, since I think we all forget Dawson didn't join OCS until album five, The Cool Death Of Island Raiders, which was released as The Ohsees, not OCS. So I guess she was never really a member of OCS until 2017? Eh, maybe this is needlessly splitting hairs. Memory Of A Cut Off Head (hereafter referred to as simply Memory) is a fun throwback in terms of the OCS style. To have Patrick Mullins back is pretty huge, as is the reappearance of former Oh Sees drummer Nick Murray (who we last heard on Mutilator Defeated At Last, or the Fortress single if you want to be a stickler for details). Tim Hellman is an interesting addition to the OCS sound, since if I remember right they never really had a bassist before. John Dwyer must love him as much as I do! Tomas Dolas contributes unspecified keyboards to the album, marking this his first appearance on an Oh Sees/OCS album, though he's billed as Thomas Dolas because...I don't know. It's either laziness or whitewashing, and I'm much inclined to believe the former. Luckily this would be rectified on Smote Reverser.


Going into this retrospective series, I was most curious to tackle the early OCS output and in particular to revisit this one. I had only given a couple cursory listens to Memory before coming back to it for this series, and it's been an eye opening experience. I had almost forgotten how nice Dwyer and Dawson's vocals sound together in a more psych folk/orchestral folk setting, especially when he's singing more hushed and melodically. It's also much easier to pick out the lyrics, which are quite dark and suffused with death and sadness. For example, 'The Remote Viewer' offers the chucklefest of a chestnut: “we are junkies of despair.” Anyway, if Memory is a return to any era of the band, it's a return to the old OCS sound circa 2. However this time it's much more “professional” and full sounding, with the welcome addition of string arrangements. In fact they're essential to this record and its style. There's a very good reason the OCS Live In San Francisco has string players on it. Some of the Beatles-esque/early Pink Floyd whimsical psychedelia and orchestral folk elements I've detected on the 'solo' Oh Sees records like Castlemania and Drop are in full bloom here. There's other intriguing instrumental flourishes, such as the harpsichord on 'The Remote View' and another welcome trotting out of Dwyer's flute skills for 'On And On Corridor.'


On a side note, the overall buoyant feel and especially the Rhodes-style organ in the beginning of album closer 'Lift A Finger By The Garden Path' always makes me imagine a slower, more folky 'You're My Best Friend' by Queen. Am I the only one who hears it? Probably.


Perhaps the greatest change to the OCS sound comes in letting Brigid Dawson step forward as a true collaborator. As far as I remember, Memory is the first time she sang on an OCS/Oh Sees songs alone, and presumably she helped write at least some of the lyrics. Overall, hearing her voice alone reminds me a lot of another female singer but I can't put my finger on who for the life of me. 'Time Tuner' definitely starts off sounding like Nico. I know I also made this comparison for one of the last songs on Castlemania but 'Time Tuner' could have gone on The Marble Index and nobody would have done a double take. Anyway, this record makes me curious to hear more full-blown collaborations between Dwyer and other people. I know at some point he was rumored to be working with Ty Segall but that either didn't happen or it ended up just being Segall co-producing Orc. I'm a big fan of Segall's two collaborations with White Fence, in particular Hair, so I'm still holding out hope. But I digress. With all the changes and updates to the sound, and the addition of Oh Sees members, it's easy for me to forget the way Memory actually is a throwback in a few crucial ways. Obviously there's the mellow/downer atmosphere, as well as the prominent use of acoustic guitars and occasional singing saw contributions from Patrick Mullins. In addition, I love that the ending of 'The Baron Sleeps And Dreams' is a drone throwback to similar moments/tracks on OCS releases. One last throwback that isn't really an OCS throwback: the album cover was done by Jonny Negron, the same artist as Drop, which makes total sense because the color palette is almost exactly the same. I find his style more limited and less appealing than Ryan Beatty; as ever, your mileage will vary.

I've struggled with a way to conclude this retrospective because I have very complicated feelings about Memory. Let me start by saying it's absolutely tops as far as OCS-billed releases. It's as if it presents an alternate history wherein John Dwyer kept The Coachwhips going and so didn't steer his OCS project into going in more of a rock rather than a folk direction, becoming the Oh Sees we know in our timeline. Memory, therefore, is like if he kept putting out OCS records between Coachwhips projects, so that in this alternate timeline OCS developed/matured into this particular nuanced, orchestrated sound, while also allowing Dawson to step forward more often. Now, all of this said, though I may not have any issues and problems with Memory, I don't adore it. It works for me but it isn't something I foresee wanting to listen to consistently over the coming years. It's quite similar to how I feel about the Damaged Bug records. They get released, I listen to them and admire them and appreciate them for what they are, and I don't have many, if any, relevant complaints...yet they don't fully bewitch me. Well, that's subjective taste for ya. Next time we'll find out if OCS in a live setting makes any difference.