Your Monday Oh Sees Fix

I've asked this question before but I'll pose it once again: why listen to any other bands when Thee Oh Sees exist?

Answer Me This (Protip: You Can't)

Why listen to any band that's not Thee Oh Sees?

From "Mutilator Defeated At Last" (2015)

I mean, really?  Is there any reason to listen to a band that's not Thee Oh Sees?

The Daily Heavy

I mean, really?  Is there any reason to listen to a band that's not the Oh Sees?

O Sees

Osees (fka Oh Sees, fka Thee Oh Sees, fka The OCs, fka OCS), having not released any new music since June 12, have finally released a one-track single, the psychedelic, folk-inflected song Ceiling.

Enjoy!

Memory of a Cut-Off Head

My deep dive into all the content on Thee Oh Sees Bandcamp site continues.  Today, I learned that in 2018 their folky OCS incarnation released a Live In San Francisco album.  It's a track-by-track recording of their Memory of a Cut-Off Head album, performed in the same sequence as the studio album.  And as good as the studio album is, this impeccably recorded performance is perhaps even better.

Little (as in no) information is provided on their Bandcamp page, but Discogs tells me it was recorded in December 2017 (sounds right, the LP was released that year).  John Dwyer and Brigid Dawson are backed by a full band on this set, including what sounds like a string section, keys, bass, and percussion. 

For what it's worth, this sounds nothing like Thee Oh Sees, and is probably more a project of singer Bridget Dawson than of maniac guitarist John Dwyer.  It's a fascinating change of pace, though, and includes three additional tracks not on the Cut-Off Head album, including the 25-minute freak-out epic Block of Ice from 2008's The Master's Bedroom album (where they start to sound like Thee Oh Sees once again). 

I can't recommend this album enough - it will be the best $7 you've ever spent.

Thee Oh Sees

So what's going on with Thee Oh Sees (aka Oh Sees, OSees, OCS, etc.) lately?  It's been almost six weeks since they dropped their last album, the socially-isolated Levitation Sessions II, a live performed filmed in an old warehouse without an audience. 

That long, six-week gap was finally filled June 12 with another live album, The Chapel, SF 10-2-19. Here's the prog-inspired 8th track, C, in all it's pre-pandemic glory.

Now that the pestilence and plague is over and over with, Oh Sees (as they're calling themselves this week) will be performing at Atlanta's Variety Playhouse on Sept. 29.  You know how to find tickets.

Oh Sees

California's Osees, aka, The Oh Sees, Thee Oh Sees, The OCs', OCS, etc., etc., have been consistently putting out excellent music for well over a decade now.  

Their sound keeps changing.  When I first got on board, they were a sort of hard-driving, psychobilly punk band, but over the years they've added elements of psychedelic rock, prog rock, metal, folk, and anything else that got into founder John Dwyer's head.

Now, he's finally come full circle and embraced free jazz, which I can argue was the muse he was chasing all along.  Or has he?  Once the track No Flutter/Goose starts to settle into a Charlie Haden-type free jazz mode, it suddenly shifts into noise rock out of the John Zorn playbook in a manner that I'm sure Haden himself would have approved.

Anyway, another interesting and exciting chapter in the endlessly fascinating and ever-exciting saga of John Dwyer and his Oh Sees.

Don't Blow Your Experiment

More new sounds from the new Oh Sees album.

OSees

Oh Sees, Thee Oh Sees, The OCs, whatever John Dwyer is calling his band these days, they still and always have kicked ass, and generally in the most unusual and interesting ways..  

Bent Arcana

Best New Thing Department - Oh Sees frontman John Dwyer and TV On The Radio's Kyp Malone have a new side project called Bent Arcana that channels the best of Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis.  You'd be forgiven for mistaking Oblivion Sigil for an outtake from the In A Silent Way session where Miles temporarily left the room.

The whole album is equally terrific.  More reason to hate the coronavirus - with live music venues all shut down, there's little chance to seeing this project live.

Bandcamp

The Covid-19 pandemic is in full force, and recording artists have been hit especially hard as tours and shows are being canceled for the foreseeable future. With such a major revenue stream drying up almost entirely, finding ways to continue supporting artists in the coming months is now an urgent priority for anyone who cares about music and the artists who create it.

To raise even more awareness around the pandemic’s impact on musicians everywhere, the direct-to-musician platform Bandcamp is waiving their revenue share on sales today (Friday, March 20th) and asking the Bandcamp community to put much needed money directly into artists’ pockets.

For many artists, a single day of boosted sales can mean the difference between being able to pay rent or not.  It may sound simple, but the best way to help artists is with direct financial support so if there's anything you've been thinking of buying anyway, or if you just want to provide some help, downloading from Bandcamp today would be a good way to start.

Here's a few suggestions to get you started.  

Friday Night Video

Thee Oh Sees

Thee Oh Sees at Terminal West, Rocktober 2013

We missed Thee Oh Sees at The Mammal Gallery on Monday night, and by all accounts the show was every bit as incredible as one would expect the hardest-driving band on the road today to be in the tiny Mammal space.

That's Mammal Gallery founder and Hello Ocho vocalist Chris Yonkers surfing the crowd.  Photo found on Facebook.

Here's Thee Oh Sees tearing up the Bowery Ballroom in New York on September 8:

Rocktober?

The weather outside is already noticeably cooler than it was last month, and football has officially begun.  More significantly, today is one of those embarrassment-of-riches days like we get in Rocktober (which technically might already have started this year) where one has to choose between a number of great shows on a given night.  Specifically, appearing at The Mammal Gallery this evening are Thee Oh Sees.

 

Meanwhile. at The Drunknen Unicorn, we have Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab), with Adron and Deradoorian opening.

But wait, there's more!  Over at The Earl, Jenny Hval is performing.

And finally, Chelsea Wolfe has a sold-out show over at Aisle 5.

There are many, many evenings where there aren't this many good shows on one night in New York City, much less Atlanta.  Alert readers already know which show I'm going to, which may or may not be the best of the night but the first one that had tickets go on sale.

Reasons To Be Cheerful

Stillwater, Oklahoma's Other Lives have announced that they're coming out with a new album, a follow-up to 2011's Tamer Animals.  They've leaked a first song, the distinctive-sounding Reconfiguration.

And as if that's not enough, America's sweetheart, Brigid Dawson, has returned to Thee Oh Sees, who are also coming out with a new album and have released a first cut, Web, which you can stream over here.

Top 10 Concerts of 2013

Okay, first of all, I acknowledge right up front that there's 12 shows in my list of Top 10 Concerts of 2013, but that's the kind of year it was.  While 2013 might have been merely so-so in its recorded output, the live shows this year were outstanding.  So without further ado, here are my choices of the best live shows of the year, presented in chronological order:

January 25 - Yo La Tengo & Calexico, Buckhead Theater

Not my first show of the year, but still a nice, early show in the year to get 2013 rolling.  After all this time, this was my first time seeing Yo La Tengo live, and I wasn't disappointed in the least.

February 23 - Unknown Mortal Orchestra & Foxygen, 529

This was a big year for UMO, who released a great album that made my Top 10.  I saw them three times this year, and this wasn't even their best show - that would be their incendiary performance during MFNW at Branx.  But this was still a fine performance, though, and what really put it into the Top 10 category was their opener, Foxygen, who suffered all sorts of major and minor calamities, mishaps, and internal strife this year, but still were able to deliver a thoroughly entertaining show to the packed house at 529.

August 31 - !!!, Bumbershoot (Seattle)

It's easy to slip into sensory overload at a three-day festival like Bumbershoot, and both get carried away in the excitement of the event over a so-so performance by a so-so band, as well as get so glazed over that you completely overlook an outstanding set by a great band.   !!! added some real excitement to the first day of Bumbershoot, and when I saw them the next week at MFNW, they confirmed that they really were that good - it wasn't all just festival overstimulation after all.   

September 6 - Radiation City, Mississippi Studios (Portland)

I also saw Radiation City several times this year - at The Earl back in June and then twice during MFNW. Although their performance at the totally radical Marmoset party left little to be desired, they really shined at Mississippi Studios during the OPB party and gave the best performance I've heard by them yet, all sweetness, harmony, and pop ecstasy - if you need proof, the entire set is posted on the OPB web site.

September 14 - Little 5 Fest

September 21 - Okkervil River & Torres, Variety Playhouse

Okkervil River's been around for a while now and I've enjoyed their records over the years, but like To La Tengo, it wasn't until this year that I finally got around to seeing them perform live. But mark my words - I will not purposely miss another live show by them again.  The evening was heightened by Torres, who was totally new to me, performing a spellbinding opening set. 

October 7 - Junip, Terminal West

As hypnotic and mesmerizing as an evening of gently psychedelic electronic folk-rock can get without the actual use of hallucinogens.  Wow, just wow!

October 9 - Savages, Vinyl

I don't have any photos to share of this show due to the band's strict no photography, cell-phone, or other mindless distraction policy, and since I was at the very front of the stage mere feet away from frontperson Jehnny Beth, I abided by their rules.  As promoter Alex Weiss tweeted after the show, "Just when I thought that it couldn't get any more intense, they brought it to another level entirely. Definitely one of the best shows I've ever seen. If you ever get a chance to see this band live, do it. That is all."  Transcendent post-punk from London.

October 26 - Neutral Milk Hotel, The Tabernacle

Another show with a pretty strict, "no pictures" policy, but I managed to snag a few that got posted on line. It's not like this comeback tour didn't have any hype surrounding it and it's not like the expectations weren't sky high, but they not only met those expectations, they elevated the breathtaking show into the pure realm of high art. 

November 2 - Thee Oh Sees, Terminal West

The best live band in the business proved once again why they're the best at what they do.  If you were there, you'd understand, and if you understood, you were there.  With great openers OBN III and The Blind Shake, the evening was a showcase for the state of 2013 punk, but no one whips a crowd up into more of a frenzy than John Dwyer and company.  Let's hope the rumors of their demise remain just rumors.

November 18 - Colin Meloy & Eleanor Friedberger, Variety Playhouse

Two master singer-songwriters, both unique in their idiosyncratic ways, gave the audience a totally charming set of songs and stories.  Added bonus points for Kinks covers. I still haven't had the chance to see The Decemberists perform, but between a composite of frontman Meloy's set and the October show by backing members Black Prairie (which very nearly made the Top 10 list - it came down to an elimination bout between this set and theirs), I feel like I can approximate the experience.   

December 11 - Joseph Arthur, Eddie's Attic

I said it before and  I'll say it again - why this man isn't a major star is beyond me.  He released one of the best records of the year, The Ballad of Boogie Christ, and I saw him perform at Criminal Records (where he briefly worked back in the 90s) during L5Fest with just a drummer and then at Eddie's Attic with bassist Mike Mills (REM), and both times he's rendered me speechless. And man, can he play guitar!  Let's hope that Mills' box office appeal brings Arthur some of the recognition he deserves.  

Best Songs of 2013

As for the best songs of 2013, far be it from me to try and pick them.  My favorites change day to day, mood to mood, and I'm psychologically and emotionally incapable of singling out the individual "best" songs of the year and saying, "Here, these songs are better than those songs."

So instead I'll leave it up to the KEXP Seattle DJs, who know a thing or two about music, to pick out the favorites.  Above is a podcast of DJ Kevin Cole's "Greatest F'ing Songs" of 2013. Cole's picks, and the tracklist to his podcast, are:

1. John Grant - GMF 
2. Phosphorescent - Song For Zula
3. Sin Fang - Look At The Light
4. Thee Oh Sees - I Come From The Mountain 
5. Mind Spiders - Inside You 
6. Parquet Courts - Borrowed Time 
7. Lucius - Turn It Around 
8. The Dirtbombs - Jump And Shout 
9. Cloud Cult - Good Friend 
10. Courtney Barnett - History Eraser 
11. Foxygen - No Destruction 
12. Volcano Choir - Byegone 
13. Laura Marling - Where Can I Go?
14. Julianna Barwick - One Half

I've got no quarrels with that list, but if your taste runs more to blues and traditional American roots rock, here's DJ Greg Vandy's "favorite things" from 2013, which includes some bona fide rockers, some blues, some folk, and even a few murder ballads:

1. Preservation Hall Jazz Band - That's It!
2. Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener
3. Case Studies - Driving East, and Through Her
4. Parquet Courts - Stoned and Starving
5. La Luz - Morning High
6. Foxygen - No Destruction
7. The Foghorns - Ain't I A Man
8. Banditos - Lone Gone, Anyway
9. The Crow Quill Night Owls - On The Road Again
10. Deer Tick - In Our Time
11. Los Colognes - My Doorway's Open
12. Andrew Combs - Emily
13. Cass McCombs - There Can Be Only One
14. Laura Marling - Master Hunter
15. Phosphorescent - Muchacho's Tune
16. Valerie June - Twisted & Twined
17. Luke Winslow King - Ella Speed
18. Kacy & Clayton - Henry Martin
19. The Deep Dark Woods - A Voice Is Calling
20. The Moondoggies - One More Chance

Thee Oh Sees Abide

Thee Oh Sees at Terminal West, November 2, 2013

Well, that was a close one!  After San Francisco Weekly initially reporting that Thee Oh Sees, the greatest North American rock band that are not Black Mountain, were on "indefinite hiatus," frontman John Dwyer published this disclaimer on Thee Oh Sees website:

DEAR OH SEES FANS,
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT.
THE BAND IS NOT BREAKING UP.
THIS IS JUST A WELL DESERVED BREAK AND A TRANSITIONAL PERIOD.
A NEW THEE OH SEES LP WILL BE OUT EARLY 2014
AND WE WILL SEE WHERE THE LIVE SHOW GOES FROM THERE...
UNTIL THEN, BE WELL
JPD

This is the music I hope they play at my funeral.  Hell, this is the music I want to hear most of the time while I'm still alive.  This is the music that lets me know I'm still alive.

Thee Oh Sees, Terminal West, Atlanta, November 2, 2013

In  my humble opinion, anything more than three bands in one night's show is at least one band too many (even though I reserve the right to attend multiple shows in one evening and see as many bands as I want).  Last night's punk-rock showcase at Terminal West featured four bands, but I honestly can't say which, if any, I would have cut from the lineup. 

For instance, the openers were Amsterdam's zZz (pronounced "zzzzz"), not to be confused with Japan's all-female post-punk/no wave band ZZZ.  Last night's zZz were a duo, just an organist and a drummer/vocalist. Fresh off a tour with Quintron & Miss Pussycat that ended Friday night in Mobile, Alabama, their version of punk leaned more to the psych-rock side, and Björn Ottenheim's baritone vocals gave the songs an almost goth edge.   The audience was still pretty sparse for the openers, and one guy pretty much had the floor to himself for dancing.

Next up were Minneapolis' The Blind Shake, with one more musician than zZz for a total of three (drums and two guitars).  The Blind Shake play pounding, high-energy, uber-punk, and about a dozen or so guys formed a mosh circle, running counter-clockwise in a cleared area of the floor slamming into each other and those on the perimeter of the clearing.      

The third band of the evening was Austin's OBN IIIs, named for their singer and frontman Orville Bateman Neeley III. OBN is a wild man, bellowing out the vocals, striking macho rock-star poses, and menacing the front row of the audience, which is where I had managed to make it to at that point of the evening.

Pacing the edge of the stage, he would kick out his foot as if were going to kick a spectator in the head, although he never actually made contact or hurt anybody.  He rubbed some people's heads and poured beer on another (after he had given him a full shot glass of liquor).  Overall, it was pretty entertaining, and kept the audience engaged and alert - you had to keep an eye on this guy, because you never knew what he'd do next.

When he was on stage away from the crowd, OBN would swing his microphone stand around, or tangle himself up in the cord, or fall on the floor and continue singing laying down.  He'd hump the monitors, grind the mic stand with his crotch, and generally act like a punk-rock maniac.

Given the intensity of the music and OBN's antics, the mosh circle got bigger and more intense, and at one point OBN jumped off stage and joined in, taking the associated shoves, punches, and headbutts in stride as he continued to sing.  He had to have been in there a good, solid two minutes or more, and he took some serious hits without losing his cool.  

At another point in the show, he disappeared behind an amp, and emerged a few seconds later with a Halloween wolf mask over his head.  He sang masked for only a minute or so before tossing the mask into the mosh circle where the participants dove for it, elbowing each other out of the way for the souvenir. He ended the set by dropping his trousers, mooning the audience, and finished the song in his boxer shorts, waddling around the stage with his pants down around his ankles.

San Francisco's Thee Oh Sees are arguably one of the few bands who could have followed that.  We last saw Thee Oh Sees at The Goat Farm, where I had managed to get a spot right at the stage before the surging, shoving, diving audience finally drove me away.  I got to the security rail at the front of the stage again last night, and as Thee Oh Sees took the stage, frontman John Dwyer unpacked his guitar case and set up right in front of where I was standing 

Before saying anything else, let me point out that Thee Oh Sees put on a terrific show and are one of the most exciting bands to see live touring right now. They played well over an hour and covered much of their latest album, Floating Coffin, but also included plenty of old favorites.

When the band started playing, the audience pressed forward and the mosh circle collapsed, but instead of moshing, the crowd would surge forward and those of us in the front would push back, all while crowd surfers were passed overhead.  Many young men tried to displace me from my spot in front of Dwyer by aggressively attempting to cut in between me and the rail, but I hung on and defended my spot and lasted the entire set, at times against overwhelming forces I should add.  But this was all a part of the fun, and I employed my patented Charles Barkley maneuver, bending over slightly and sticking my butt as far out as I could to take up as much space as possible so that when crushed, I had some room to give before pushing back.

I didn't mind the surging, the shoving, and the crunching so much, and knew that's what I was in for at an Oh Sees show when I got to the front of the stage.  Taking pictures was a challenge though, as you never knew when you'd need your hands and arms free to block off an interloper.  

But the real fun of being up front was to get to watch Dwyer up close.  He's a hilarious performer, often making funny faces, sticking out his tongue, or rolling his eyes to match the funny voices he sometimes uses (check out his vocals at about the 2:55 mark on Block of Ice, below, from an October 27 gig in Brooklyn captured by  NYC Taper).  Sometimes, he reminds me at times of an Ed "Big Daddy" Roth cartoon character, or how the MAD Magazine of the 1960s might have parodied a garage rock band.  It was wonderful to get to watch him perform, and I think that most of the audience missed it for all the pushing and shoving and diving going on.  

In addition to Block of Ice, set highlights, and there were many, included Contraption/Soul Desert and The Dream from the Carrion Crawler/The Dream LP. Impressively, they played without a set list, even though the sequence of songs was very different from the set of just a few nights ago in New York, based on the NYC Taper archive.  They closed their set with Minotaur, a slower song to chill the crowd out a little, although Dwyer worked his observation into the lyrics that "someone's still crowd surfing to a slow song."

Thee Oh Sees finished around 12:30, and the PA and house lights came on immediately after their set; no encore would be had that evening.

Overall, then, and as alluded to earlier, the set was a veritable showcase of different styles of modern punk rock, starting with zZz's psych-punk, followed by The Blind Shake's guitar punk, followed by OBN III's in-your-face punk, and capped off by Thee Oh Sees mutant psychedelic freak-folk punk.

Twenty-four hours later, my hearing has returned to near normal.