Thee Oh Sees - Drop

Thee Oh Sees
Drop
15April 2014
Castle Face

3.5 stars out of 5

 

Thee Oh Sees hail from San Francisco and play (nowadays) a dense, noise-filled brand of garage rock. Drop is their eighth studio LP under their current spelling; they released two LPs previously as The OhSees, and another three as OCS before that. The new record doesn’t quite double as a belt sander to the face the way 2012’s Putrifiers II did, but it’s got all of Thee Oh Sees’ trademark psychedelic garage rock insanity, even if somewhat easier on the eardrums in comparison to that earlier record.

“Penetrating Eye” begins the record as if it were the theme to an astronomy show on PBS in the 1970s before bringing in the loud guitars, Ozzy-y vocals, and devil horns. “Encrypted Bounce” sounds like the psychedelic SF sound of the late ‘60s as hijacked by anarchist punks. “Savage Victory” manages to reference the incredibly disparate music of The Cramps and Neu! in the same riff. It’s a bit of atmospheric kraut rock/psychobilly that ends like a dying first generation Atari. The madcap is laughing throughout “Camera (Queer Sound),” though there isn’t a trace of him shining later on like a crazy diamond. “Kings Nose” is basically Canterbury circa 1972, while “Transparent World” also takes its cue from kraut rock, but merged with psychedelic jam rock this time. “The Lens” is Pink Floyd meets Bowie’s folkier moments.

This is perhaps Thee Oh Sees’ most accessible record to date, though not their most arresting or essential. There aren’t many musical references on Drop that are less than 40 years old, though what is here is so thoroughly violated and corrupted that it’s almost become a genre into itself. A good introduction to the band for the uninitiated.

reviewed by Richard Krueger