THEE OH SEES

In the early 2000s there was a revival of psych rock of sorts. Much of it was garage and punk rock mixed with the stylings found from the late 60s and early 70s, the golden age of psych. This new movement is called Neo Psychedelia, or Acid Punk in the British Post Punk scene. While its relevance could be looked towards in the 70s, it never truly took form until the turn of the 21st Century. There were several variations of Neo Psychedelic music that were sprouting up. Some utilized a more alt rock sound, stuff like The Flaming Lips or Spiritualized. Some were experimental like Black Moth Super Rainbow and Beach House. But some were daring to truly look into the roots of psych rock, the diversity of the genre and what it spawned, which led to some bands finding new styles of music and new ways of expressing themselves. One of these bands was Thee Oh Sees?or OCS, Orange County Sound, The Ohsees, Oh Sees, Osees, or Orinoka Crash Suite.

For the sake of the review I'll just call them Thee Oh Sees. They've been around for a long while now, and are pretty well known in a lot of music circles, especially psych and indie rock ones. I grew to like them somewhat, I've listened to a few of their albums, but I never felt interested in them to say the least. Their music never really got me hooked into the band. I do listen to an album from them from time to time, but I never feel the need to try and find more of the band's stuff especially since when I hear them I just sorta want to listen to their younger, Aussie brothers, King Gizzard instead. But I decided now that it would be the best to hear another album from the band and review it as such. Who knows, maybe this one will entice me and truly make me a full fledged fan.

The opener to this album is I Come from the Mountain. So for starters, I think the riffing of the song sounds super good and gives me a whole lot of early psych rock vibes from the 60s. It brings me to familiar feelings to songs like Helter Skelter by The Beatles or Interstellar Overdrive by Pink Floyd, but more modernized with a cleaner sound, but almost dirty enough for it to still sound dirty. This song is very quick to the pace to where once it gets going, it just just doesn't let up. It's a chugging train, every single bit about this song is so fun and energetic that you do not see often nowadays. This consistent momentum that doesn't let up is a bit of a guilty pleasure. I may love my fair share of ballads, but a fun jam will always be a bit of my cup of Joe too.

Next up is Toe Cutter - Thumb Buster. A bit slower, but still has that JAM I love so dearly, but I appreciate the moments when the jam stops riffing and gives you that very great bass line, and this is one of the core essentials for this album. You see Tim Hellman's bass has a distinct playing style that isn't technically impressive, but when you hear it, it is a dopamine boost of satisfaction. It's so satisfying hearing those little bumps and twangs in this song that if you remove every instrument from the equation from this song and only play the bass, I bet you'll still find something great to be had here.

After that we have the title track of the album. Like I Come From The Mountain, this is a track that focuses on momentum and fast riffs. Simply put this is another fun jammy song that focuses on psychedelic punk music and a garage rocking feel. Nothing too complex with this one to be honest, but still pretty fun.

The fourth track on this album is No Spell. While this song retains that same fun punkish vibes, they go for a more softer, atmospheric song. It has an enjoyable acoustic feel that makes for a nice and calm surrounding but also one that is very in tune with a bit of spunk and energy. It feels very nice to listen to and it is brimming with fun from point A to point B, which I clearly love.

Right after that is Strawberries 1 + 2, which is kinda funny cause the album cover is a bunch of mouths and eyes with strawberries. This song is a lot slower and more of a ballad than a jam session. This is my favorite song on the album, it just sounds so satisfying how the drums just connect with the melody and harmonies of the vocals, and that bass just carrying the song as always makes this song a joy to listen to. It's so hypnotic and weird that I cannot help but love it so much.

Maze Fancier is up next. I bet the band heard how good their bass work was because this song is basically bass city. That continuous bass riff propels this song towards new heights of joyous proportions. It is almost hard to describe this song, but for some reason I get the feeling it is exotic in a way with the vocals and the guitars just give me this summer time Island vibe, like I am transported onto Hawaii or something. I don't know why I get this feeling but it is quite unique, and I think that is very special for an album to do.

The album so far has kept a steady track record of jammy songs with great atmospheric soundscapes, but this song, Night Crawler, goes for a more synth wavey sounding song that feels straight from an underground alt 80s club. It is very trippy and creepy sounding, gives me a ton of No Wave era Swans vibes strangely even if this song doesn't feel No Wave at all. I guess that is the magic of this album, it can create feelings of totally different things compared to the music but still makes it work surprisingly well. It makes this album a dime a dozen, and definitely a dime I'll cherish a ton.

Likewise, Sweet Helicopter, also gives me vibes of something that is totally unrelated to the music. It feels very autumn-like in a way, with the chords and the spacey vocals makes it feel very open and chill. I guess it's those little things in the music that you don't really notice that gives you these sorts of feelings I guess, so kudos to them for expertly doing such large yet tiny feet.

The next track is Tunnel Time. This song goes right back into the jammy, fun filled energy previous tunes had before. Same as before, this song is just really fun to hear so all the praises of songs before apply to this one as well.

Moving ahead is the last song on the album, Minotaur. For a final track, it is usually best to leave off on a good note. Some albums do this well, but others do it poorly, however this album definitely does it very nicely. It goes for a less jammy punkish feel, to a more softer feel that's almost blues like, introducing more string instruments and a bit of a twang to the song. It lends itself to an almost emotional status that makes the journey this album holds, while only 39 minutes in length, feel worthwhile, and I cannot help but realize the true momentus potential this band has with only this song and album alone.

I totally get why Thee Oh Sees are pretty popular in the psyche rock scene, not only are they a fun jam band, but their atmospheric feel they give off makes this band worth a ton of love.