Tag: Thee Oh Sees Live in San Francisco

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past several years, you’ve probably been made familiar with John Dwyer, the co-founder of renowned indie rock label, Castle Face Records and the creative mastermind behind the equally renowned, JOVM mainstay act Thee Oh Sees — and throughout that time, Dwyer has maintained a reputation for being insanely prolific. Last year saw the release of two Thee Oh Sees albums — their contribution to Castle Face’s continuing live series, Live in San Francisco and a studio album, Weird Exit, both of which were supported with an intense and busy touring schedule. Somehow, Dwyer had managed to find time to write and record new material for his synth-based, solo, noise rock project Damaged Bug, a project that Thee Oh Sees frontman has publicly described as a welcome respite from the scuzzy, power chord-based garage rock and psych rock he’s long been known for.

Bunker Funk, Dwyer’s soon-to-be released Damaged Bug album will reportedly continue where the preceding effort Cold Hot Plumbs left off, while expanding upon the project’s sound. Earlier this year, I wrote about “Bog Dash,” a single featuring sputtering and noisy squalls of squiggling synths, propulsive, tribal-lke drumming and explosive blasts of guitar paired with Dwyer’s imitable falsetto singing lyrics about traveling across spacetime paired with a funky bass line. The album’s latest single “Unmanned Scanner” pairs menacingly buzzing synths with a T. Rex-inspired boogie shuffle and Dwyer sing-speaking the song’s lyrics with a somewhat ironic detachment while continuing the project’s reputation of sounding like it came from a  completely different dimension.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Surreal and Darkly Psychedelic Visuals for Thee Oh Sees’ “Gelatinous Cube”

If you’ve been frequenting this site over its nearly 7 year history, you’d likely be familiar with JOVM mainstays Thee Oh Sees. Led by Castle Face Records co-founder, and the band’s founder and creative mastermind, John Dwyer, the Bay Area-based garage rock/psych rock band has a long-held reputation for being incredibly prolific and last year further cemented that, as the band released two more albums — a live album, Live in San Francisco recorded over three nights at The Chapel and the second album, Weird Exit being the first entry of a planned series of albums.

One of the first singles off both Live in San Francisco and Weird Exit was “Gelatinous Cube,” a single that in prototypical Thee Oh Sees fashion managed to be a towering, buzzing barnburner of a song, complete with layers of scorching guitar pyrotechnics, a throbbing and propulsive rhythm section, Dywer’s growling falsetto and a primal, guttural fury — all while possessing an unusual song structure and an almost surf rock-like hook that reminded me a bit of The Blind Shake.

The recently released animated video features some disturbing and wildly psychedelic imagery that for most of the song’s length could very well be a warning n the evil’s of exploitative capitalism until the video’s protagonist becomes one with the song’s gelatinous cube — and by then, the video becomes even more surreal than the first few minutes.

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Over the years that I’ve run this site, you’ve likely have been made familiar with John Dwyer, the cofounder of renowned indie label, Castle Face Records and the creative mastermind behind the equally renowned, JOVM mainstay act Thee Oh Sees — and if there’s one thing Dwyer has a reputation for it’s for this: being incredibly prolific. Last year saw the release of The Oh Sees‘ live album, Live in San Francisco and another full-length effort Weird Exit, both of which were supported with some rather busy touring. And yet somehow, Dwyer found time to write and record material with his synth-based, noise rock-based solo recording project, Damaged Bug, which interestingly enough Dwyer has described as a welcome respite from the power chord-based, scuzzy, garage psych he’s known for.

Bunker Funk, Dwyer’s forthcoming Damaged Bug effort reportedly continues where the preceding effort Cold Hot Plumbs left off while expanding upon its sound; in fact, as you’ll hear on “Bog Dash,” the album’s first single, you’ll hear sputtering and noisy squalls of squiggling synths, a funky bass line, propulsive almost tribal-like drumming and explosive blasts of guitar paired with Dwyer’s famed falsetto singing lyrics about traveling across spacetime with a surrealistic and psychedelic feel. Interestingly, Dwyer manages to do this while maintaining a bit of funk to the proceedings. Yeah, seriously.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Thee Oh Sees Pair Strange, Disturbing Visuals with Their Blistering, Forceful Sound

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.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Led by Castle Face Records co-founder John Dwyer, Thee Oh Sees have a long-held reputation for being insanely prolific and 2016 is no different as the band will have released two new albums by the end of August — one being a live album, aptly titled Live in San Francisco recorded over three nights at The Chapel; and the second album being the first entry in a planned series. Live in San Francisco is DVD/album that will give fans a real taste of their renowned thrashing and sweaty live shows and while slated for a July 1, 2016 release, it also manages to be a teaser as it features live versions of material, which will appear on their forthcoming full-length Weird Exit. Oh, and along with that the band will be on an incredibly lengthy 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.

In the meantime the first single off Live in San Francisco is a live version of a song, which will appear on the band’s forthcoming Weird Exit, “Gelatinous Cube.” And in almost prototypical Thee Oh Sees fashion the song is a towering barnburner of a song — layers of scorching and scuzzy guitar pyrotechnics paired with a throbbing and propulsive rhythm section and Dwyer’s falsetto; in other words, the song possess a primal, guttural fury that quickly fades out from sheer exhaustion. “Plastic Plant,” the first single off Weird Exit continues the guitar pyrotechnics but filters them through dreamy psych rock, gritty garage rock, prog rock and tons of effects pedals and pairs them with propulsive drumming and Dwyer’s falsetto. Of course, both singles will further cement Dwyer and company’s additionally long-held reputation for thrashing and kicking ass in songs with extremely atypical song structures.

Tour Dates:
06-18 Vancouver, British Columbia – Levitation Vancouver
06-25 Oakland, CA – Burger Boogaloo
07-01-03 Keflavík, Iceland – ATP Festival, Ásbrú
07-30 Denver, CO – Underground Music Showcase
08-05 Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon Festival
08-06 Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon Festival
08-07 Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon Festival
08-14 Helsinki, Finland – Flow Festival
08-16 Stockholm, Sweden – Debaser
08-18 Paredes, Portugal – Paredes de Coura Festival
08-19 Hasselt, Belgium – Pukkelpop
08-20 Berlin, Germany – Columbia Theatre
08-21 Biddinghuizen, Netherlands – Low Land Festival
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