If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few years, you’d be familiar with another JOVM mainstay act, Thee Oh Sees. Led by Castle Face Records co-founder John Dwyer and featuring a rotating cast of collaborators and friends, the band has long-held reputation for being incredibly prolific. And 2016 will further cement that reputation as the band would have released two new albums by the end of this month — a live album with DVD footage, aptly titled Live in San Francisco, which was recorded over three nights of performances The Chapel and features live versions of material off the band’s soon-to-be-released latest full-length Weird Exit was released last month. Weird Exit, the second release this year is the first entry of a planned series.
Earlier this year, I wrote about “Plastic Plant,” the first single off Weird Exit, a single that continues the band’s renowned guitar pyrotechnics but filtered through dreamy psych rock, gritty garage rock, prog rock with tons of effects pedals paired with propulsive and forceful drumming and Dwyer’s falsetto. And of course, in typical Thee Oh Sees fashion it’s a thrashing, ass-kicking, sweaty mosh pit worthy song with an atypical, almost jam-like song structure. “Dead Man’s Gun,” Weird Exit‘s second and latest single seamlessly meshes garage rock, psych rock, surfer rock and punk as Dwyer’s falsetto and howls are paired with alternating sections of scorching power chords, shimmering reverb and delay pedaled surfer rock and psych rock chords in the song’s quieter sections, and the whole thing is held together by a propulsive rhythm section featuring a throbbing and insistent bass line and a rolling drum pattern. Every time I hear the Bay Area-based band’s material I’m reminded of how much of a sonic debt they owe to the 60s — but with an underlying sense of menace.
The recently video follows a series of people, who clearly appear to be tweaking on crystal meth and freaking out/rocking out in almost exact rhythm to the song and it’s spliced with sequences of someone making the shit in their basement. In some way, the video evokes the perverse human tendency to be unable to stop looking at something particular gruesome — although we’ll almost always regret it later.
Dwyer and company are currently on a lengthy world tour with Amplified Heat, Straight Arrows, Alex Cameron, Magnetix and my personal favorites The Blind Shake opening for Dwyer and company during various dates — and it includes two NYC area dates: 11/11/16 at the Bowery Ballroom and 11/12/16 at Warsaw. Check out tour dates below.
Tour Dates:
08-23 Praha, Czech Republic – Futurum Music Bar
08-24 Zurich, Switzerland- Mascotte*
08-25 Geneva, Switzerland – Palp Festival *
08-26 Asolo, Italy – Amo Festival
08-27 Ravenna, Italy – Hana-Bi
08-31 Tel Aviv, Israel – Arena
09-02 London, United Kingdom – Coronet !*
09-3 Leeds, United Kingdom – University Stylus !*
09-04 Dorset, United Kingdom – End of the Road Festival
09-06 Biarritz, France – Atabal *
09-08 Valada, Portugal – Reverence Festival
09-09 Granada, Spain – Planta Benja
09-10 Benidorm, Spain – Fuzzville
09-12 Barcelona, Spain – Apolo *
09-13 Toulouse, France – Bikini *
09-14 Paris, France – La Cigale *
09-15 Lille, France – Aeronef *
10-08 Miami, FL – III Points Festival
10-14 Joshua Tree, CA – Desert Daze 2016
10-15 Joshua Tree, CA – Desert Daze 2016
10-16 Joshua Tree, CA – Desert Daze 2016
11-01 Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre
11-02 El Paso, TX – Lowbrow Palace
11-05 New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jack’s #
11-06 Memphis, TN – The Hi Tone Cafe #
11-07 Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge #
11-09 Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall #
11-10 Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts ^
11-11 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
11-13 Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw ^
11-15 Providence, RI – Aurora ^
11-16 Montreal, Quebec – La Tulipe
11-17 Toronto, Ontario – Danforth Theater
11-18 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
11-19 Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
11-23 Missoula, MT – Stage 112
11-25 Seattle, WA – Neumos %
# Amplified Heat
^ Straight Arrows
% Alex Cameron
* Magnetix
! Blind Shake