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 #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.'

On First Listen: Cococoma- Cococoma

I've had an idea for a feature for Whiskey Pie for awhile in which I listen to an album/band for the first time and "live blog" the results. If you're a regular reader of Whiskey Pie, you might recall that I did this once for a Shellac album. However, I never came back to the idea because normally I'm too greedy and eager to listen to something alone instead of waiting to write about it as I give it a first spin. One of the more interesting aspects of music listening, at least to me, is the naked first impression of an album before you know anything about it, or more routinely, read any reviews. So!! This is my first true attempt at this thing, since I had skimmed some reviews of the Shellac album before getting it.

As for Cococoma, I've seen this album at my local record shop for a few months now. Every time I browse the vinyl section and sift through the 'Punk' area I stop on this one and stare at the cover. Something about it speaks to me on a fundamental level and reminds me of looking through my parents' records as a kid, not knowing anything about music, really, let alone the bands. For all I knew, Little Feat was the name of the album. In fact the cover for Little Feat's Down On The Farm obsessed me for awhile because, even pre-sexual awakening, I knew there was something naughty and wrong about the cartoon duck. Lest I come off as a furry (or feather-y...whatever) I should note that I don't find it sexy now and never did. Anyway...I wasn't entirely sure if Cococoma was a modern band or not, given the 1920s/1930s cartoon cover and the late 60s vibe of the one dude's glasses and the other dude's boots. Flipping the record over, I see that they have a girl in the band, so I'm guessing she's the one on the rocket.

Today, after trading in some CDs for store credit, I could no longer put off my curiosity about this band and this album. It had been there in the record bin like a reliable friend, staring out at me for months while I passed it over for other albums I actually knew about. "Hmmm," I'd think to myself, "I don't know...$10 is kind of cheap, but it's a Punk band I know nothing about..." I was feeling pretty magnanimous and wanted to rescue it from obscurity. And anyway, what's so wrong about buying something based only on the cover?? Let's give it a go, shall we??

1) I Swear: Oops, this is supposed to be played at 45 RPM!! The first time I listened to the Beatles's White Album I was sure there was something wrong with my parents's copy of it, since the version of 'Revolution' I knew was the fast, angry one, not the slower/surfier one on the album. I think the new Portishead album was released on double vinyl meant to be played at 45 RPM, too. But I digress. This song is like a trip back to the early years of this decade, when garage rock came back to popular prominence. Something very Hives-y about it.

2) Too Tired: Hey, an organ!! A Farfisa, no less. Ah, hey, a guitar solo. I hope the entire album is this spastic and fast.

3) Ain't You Had Enough?: I won't go for the easy joke here. But I will say that, like most garage rock, all the songs kind of sound the same. This isn't really a bad thing; in fact, I wish Animal Collective would release an album that was just variations on 'Leaf House' or 'Peacebone.'

4) Go Ahead: I can actually tell there's a girl in the band for the first time though she's still only on back-up vocals. This gives the song an...early 90s riot grrl vibe, though I'm being really reductionist because I can't think of any non-riot grrl punk bands with a chick in them. I just noticed that the drummer/lead singer and the chick/guitarist have the same last name. Married or siblings? Ah, the old White Stripes dilemma...

5) (Tryin' To) Read My Mind: All killer, no filler. Farfisa makes another frontline appearance. This album is all piledriver drums and timbre-y cymbal hits with a bunch of white noise guitar chording and chunky organ, with every line yelled anthemic style...woah, that guitar solo is nuts!!

6) Premonition: Hello, side two. Someone says "fucking ready" and then the drums count off and here we go. At three minutes, this is the longest song on the album. A not-quite-as-fast mid-tempo rocker. Farfisa powered chorus. You know how Guy Picciotto from Fugazi sounds when he's yelling out the choruses of their anthemic songs?? That's how this dude sounds all the time.

7) Desperate Situation: There's a galloping sense of rhythm to this song that reminds me of 'Nimrod's Son' by the Pixies. The lead singer doesn't yell so much as yell/sing this time, which is a nice change of pace. One thing I'll say for this band, you can't listen to this album lying down. It pretty much demands a vertical stance, if not full on rockin'.

8) I Don't Mind...: Are you allowed to fault a punk/garage rock album for simplistic lyrics? I kind of feel like it's faulting a jazz album for not having lyrics at all, you know?? If I stare at the album cover while this song is playing I swear I can see the cartoons moving around...

9) She Gets Heavy (Holds Too Tight): Another garage rock yelper. You've got to admire a song where most of the lyrics are contained in the title. At least the ones you can understand underneath the loud guitars and drums. Another flash-fire guitar solo.

10) I Want More: I'm going to make the obvious joke here...I do want more. I guess punk/garage rock albums are short by necessity because they don't stick around long enough to get boring. Still, the main reason I avoid 95% of punk/garage rock in the first place is that there isn't enough variety and it all sounds the same after awhile. There is a comfort to knowing that you can set your watch to the predictability of said albums that I fully understand, but I've never been the type of person who was content to listen to the same kind of music day in/day out.

All in all, a decent punk/garage rock record. Unless you're really into this genre you can probably skip this. You only need so many albums like this in your collection and trying to sift the wheat from the chaff is the job of better qualified specialists than I.

Album of the Week: Pere Ubu-Dub Housing

It was bound to happen eventually. I find myself in my local record store and nothing I had come there to find was in stock. Going through the vinyl bins three times I feel compelled to buy something, as I always do when I go there, just to support them. I had heard the name Pere Ubu before, specifically in the Looking For A Thrill DVD that Thrill Jockey put out a few years ago. Anyway, they had Dub Housing in the Punk section and I like to take gambles on music sometimes.

I think I can now relate to how people felt in 1978 when they heard this album because they had little-to-no expectation about it, just as I did. There is very little in music like Pere Ubu--Captain Beefheart is a reference point, but it's also a misleading one. Of all the new wave/post-punk bands I've heard, Pere Ubu is easily the strangest and most interesting at the same time. Within very specific genres certain bands will transcend and make something both of its time and essentially timeless. That is Dub Housing.

Every element of the sound of Dub Housing is essential to its greatness. David Thomas's vocals are impassioned, strained, strange, and deranged. His delivery, cadence, and lyrics are all his own. Guitars chime, clang, and distort to the point of unintelligibility. The bass and drums keep an effectively grooving and cathartic warped playground tempo. The juxtaposition of almost cheesey organ lines with some of the most brilliant, original, and frankly fucked up synthesizer sounds I've ever heard is the lynchpin of the album's sound. Little touches like the sparing use of saxophone and sound effects also add to the bizarre soup of sound.

It's safe to say that songs like 'Drinking Wine Spodyody' and 'Caligari's Mirror' are two of the album's best, so sample these if you're at all curious about this band. The former is one of those songs that shouldn't be catchy but is, with its off kilter, angular playing and vocal tics from David Thomas. 'Caligari's Mirror' borrows from the "what should we do with a drunken sailor" mariner's song to great effect. And I would be doing a disservice to the album if I didn't mention the two instrumentals, 'Thriller!' and 'Blow Daddy-o' which push the band's instruments to their limits, from the psychedelic, backwards guitar of 'Thriller!' to the synthesizer/noise loop that runs throughout 'Blow Daddy-o.'

The true tests of an album's greatness are its longevity and timelessness. And in those regards, Dub Housing is a brilliant piece of art: people are still discovering this band and being influenced by it, and it still sounds both fresh and belonging to no certain era or movement.