Thee Oh Sees - Castlemania

(In The Red, 2011)

With Castlemania, Thee Oh Sees take the lead. While other lo-fi, garage-y type bands continue soft-pedaling just-above-average releases that seem poised simply to keep their collective heads above water, Thee Oh Sees have made a record that stands to devour hordes of unsuspecting listeners whole.

Perhaps that’s misleading. I mean, followers of John Dwyer and his troupe are surely not going to be surprised that the man has, yet again, exceeded expectations. They’ll probably read this with the response: Duh, didn’t you even listen to Help? Dog Poison? Truth is, Thee Oh Sees have long been front-runners among purveyors of outsider pop with a gritty, classic rock flair.

And to go ahead and answer, yes, I have been following Thee Oh Sees, and did listen to those previous albums. But there is something about Castlemania that’s got me bristling with summer-faced joy and jilted blues. It’s got me bobbing and weaving.  More so than before with Thee Oh Sees.

Maybe it’s the weather.

But it certainly is commanding me like Dancer Equired, Napa Asylum, Dye It Blonde and other like-minded albums haven’t been able to.

So take that for what it’s worth. I’ll just pronounce it: I love this album.

Thee Oh Sees - "Corrupted Coffin"

2008 Round Up Pt. 3

Three more releases that require a closer look.

Thee Oh Sees
The Master’s Bedroom Is Worth Spending a Night In
(04.2008, Tomlab)

I blame this 2008 omission on Wooly Mammal. After listening to the record, his basic sentiment was ‘meh’ and you know what? I listen to way too much music to be bogged down by some meh-worthy album. However, I kept seeing the record lauded all over the place and finally decided that I needed to find out for myself and thank goodness I did. The Master’s Bedroom is a garage psych bliss fest! Awesome hooks underscored by a generally bombastic guitars the twist and warp like vibrant specter. Thee Oh Sees got weighed down a little too much by lo-fi tag; no, this is pure, adulterated rock music at its grimy best.


Love Is All
A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night
(11.2008, What’s Your Rupture?)

A perfect return to form after a three year hiatus, Love Is All delivers their second album filled with the same sugary Swedish charm that we fell for with their debut. It only took a couple plays before the anthemic, hook-heavy nature of A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night was vying for my soul (just like any good pop album). So, yeah, beware because there is a good chance that you won’t be able shake this album once you’ve heard it, AKA, the album provokes binge listening and will most likely end with a call to a local addiction hotline. Pure audio candy.


Sic Alps
U.S. Ez
(07.2008, Siltbreeze)

Sharing members with my adorably effed up lo-fi troupe of 2008, The Hospitals, Sic Alps produced an album that inhabited the lighter end of the Siltbreeze’s feedback-conscious community and turned out stronger for it. On U.S. Ez, Sic Alps must’ve busted out large portions the ceiling they were recording in because there’s plenty of sunshine shining through these tracks. Sure, there are some squealing amps and light fuzz that crops up here and there, but U.S. Ez is more interested in untainted song craft. That is the heart of the album – a collection of beautifully left-of-center pop songs to relax and sip lemonade to. It would be interesting to see if a more celebrated lo-fi band like Times New Viking would sound even close to this good if they stripped back their songs like this. Whether successful or not, there isn’t a chance it could be as good as U.S. Ez.

-Mr. Thistle