Tag: Oh Sees

Oh Sees – Orc

John Dwyer is one of the busiest guys in rock.  He has so many variations of his band Thee Oh Sees that it can be difficult to keep track of them all.  One of the latest, which he’s just calling Oh Sees, has put out a fine record of psychedelic art-punk called Orc.

The album opens with the crazy, frantic “The Static God” – which appears to be a song about the whirlwind nature of battlefield combat.  Dwyer’s guitar is all over the place, but the chorus’ vocal hook has a wonderful pop twinge to it.  “Nite Expo” has 1980’s video game synths leading it before Dwyer’s guitar kicks open the door and catches you by surprise.  “Animated Violence” hits as hard as any metal track you’ve heard all year, both in the instrumentation (i.e., buzzsaw guitars and thunderous drums) and vocals and lyrics (revealing Dwyer’s love of Motorhead).

The longest track on the record (at 8:10), “Keys to the Castle,” is (on its surface, at least) about a bloody siege in a medieval fantasy kingdom.  I’m sure it’s probably a metaphor about how we’re actually destroying ourselves in these castles of loneliness and disconnection we’ve built thanks to the internet, but maybe I’m overreaching and should just enough the fun freak-out of a tune that it is (especially when the violin and organ creep into it).

“Jettison,” with its early Mick Ronson-like guitar work, is one of the grooviest songs about death in a long while (“Who likes sugar in their coffin?  The underground is twice as nice.”).  “Cadaver Dog” encourages the generation behind Dwyer to be leaders and not followers and be self-reliant instead of clinging to potentially deadly illusions.  “Drowned Beast” is a fuzzy salute to deepwater beast warriors who slay and eat everything in sight.  Three fun instrumentals, “Paranoise,” “Cooling Tower,” and “Raw Optics” are included.  The first has some subtle synths that might make you paranoid, the second is something you’d hear drifting out of a Mothers of Invention studio session, and the third (which closes the album) is a snappy blast of post-punk with a drum solo to boot.

Orc is a quirky, wild record, but you’d expect no less from Mr. Dwyer.  He excels at making quirky, wild rock that can melt your face one moment and intrigue you the next.

Keep your mind open.

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Oh Sees / OCS announce tour dates with Ty Segall and unleash D&D-themed video.

WATCH THE MONSTROUS NEW VIDEO FOR “NITE EXPO“

TY SEGALL ADDED TO LOS ANGELES BENEFIT SHOWS;
CASTLEMANIA ANNOUNCED IN LONDON & MANCHESTER

ORC OUT NOW, MEMORY OF A CUT OFF HEAD
OUT 11/17 ON CASTLE FACE
Who would think that the creator of such records as Orc, Memory of a Cut Off Head, Mutilator Defeated At Last, Carrion Crawler, and Castlemania would hold Halloween in high regard? Oh Sees share the video for “Nite Expo” a song off their album Orc (released in August on Castle Face). The video features a hideous adventurer fighting his way through a cavernous dungeon, slaying all manner of ghoulish beasts and monsters. Will he reach the castle and save the day? You’ll have to watch to find out. “Animation and role-playing games were a huge part of my youth,” says Dwyer, “so I was really excited to work on this with Alex Theodoropulos and make a fun Halloween video that harkens back to the real simple times. Imagination running wild and no thoughts of a heavy world.”
WATCH “NITE EXPO”
https://youtu.be/O8hf8HBeFSE
Also, as previous reported, OCS (featuring John Dwyer, Brigid Dawson, Tim Hellman, Paul Quattrone, Tom Dolas and a string section consisting of Heather Lockie, Eric Clarke and Emily Elkin) announced four shows, two in Los Angeles and two in San Francisco. Proceeds from both LA shows will benefit L.A. Kitchen and, in addition to Shannon Lay, Ty Segall was just added, performing solo acoustic. The SF shows will benefit the Coalition on Homelessness, and will also be supported by Ty Segall and Shannon Lay. Furthermore, for our friends across the pond, Castle Face is proud to present…CASTLEMANIA. Here are some words from Castle Face about the event:

May we present, for you Britishers among us – or those amongst them – a one-two shot to the ribs from the Castle Face Records roster: Thursday, March 1st in Manchester and Friday, March 2nd in London, spearheaded by those indefatigable and indispensable Oh Sees, a live force to be feared. They’ll be joined by white mages of healing and appealing frequencies Once and Future Band, underground pop wunderkind cum laude Kelley Stoltz, feedback-tipped missiles of love and boredom Flat Worms, and the fuzzed-up goth pop stylings of Male Gaze.

OCS TOUR DATES
Fri. Dec. 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom w/ Ty Segall (Solo Acoustic), Shannon Lay
Sat. Dec. 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom w/ Ty Segall (Solo Acoustic), Shannon Lay
Sun. Dec. 17 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel w/ Ty Segall (Solo Acoustic), Shannon Lay
Mon. Dec. 18 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel w/ Ty Segall (Solo Acoustic), Shannon Lay

OH SEES TOUR DATES
Thu. Mar. 1, 2018 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall (Castlemania)
Fri. Mar. 2, 2018 – London, UK @ The Troxy (Castlemania)
Listen to OCS’s “The Fool” – http://bit.ly/2xWKTzA
Listen to OCS’s “Memory of a Cut Off Head” – http://bit.ly/2wJQNUt

Pre-order Memory of a Cut Off Head – http://bit.ly/2wiTwSM
Purchase Orc – https://www.midheaven.com/item/orc-by-oh-sees
Hi-res photos/album art: http://pitchperfectpr.com/thee-oh-sees/

Oh Sees/OCS Online:
http://www.theeohsees.com
https://www.castlefacerecords.com
http://pitchperfectpr.com/thee-oh-sees/
https://www.castlefacerecords.com/collections/thee-oh-sees

John Dwyer releases 20th album in 20 years with OCS’ “Memories of a Cut Off Head.”

OH SEES’ NEW ALBUM ORC OUT NOW; OH SEES ARE DEAD, LONG LIVE OCS

OCS ANNOUNCES MEMORY OF A CUT OFF HEAD, OUT 11/17 ON CASTLE FACE

LISTEN TO TITLE TRACK OFF 20TH ALBUM IN 20 YEARS

Just as you begin to get comfortable with something, the rug is pulled from under you. Last Friday, John Dwyer and his band Oh Sees released their newest record, the monolithic psych opus Orc. This release represents the 19th album under some amalgam of the name Oh Sees/Thee Oh Sees/The Oh Sees, OCS, etc. Wasting no time, John Dwyer presents the 20th album (in the 20th year of the band’s existence), Memory of a Cut Off Head (out 11/17 on Castle Face), returning to his roots as OCS.

It is easy to forget (especially amidst the ringing of ears and aching of muscles after your typical Oh Sees show) that initially, OCS was a rather hushed affair. After the minimalistic brutality of Coachwhips, OCS was a diametric opposite corner of John’s musical world, quiet to the point of whispered in the wind, buffeted by the airy whirr of singing saw, soft and strange. Those early records especially had a rather contraband hush about them, as if the party has gone on all night and continues into the morning but everyone’s raspy from talking too much and gradually agrees to whisper and pantomime as they watch the sun come up over the hills. Since then of course, things got gradually louder, faster, crazier…the band evolved since then into the Oh Sees everyone knows. For the 20th Oh Sees release, 100th Castle Face title, and 20th year doing it, John re-examines the quieter roots of it all in particularly baroque and homesteadly fashion. Memory of a Cut Off Head was co-written with longtime collaborator and vocal counterpoint Brigid Dawson, recorded in total in John’s own Stu Stu Studio, and it’s lush, sumptuous in texture, but satisfyingly retains the gentle grace of the early stuff. There’s beautifully executed strings throughout, courtesy of Heather Lockie’s fine arrangements, horn arrangements courtesy of Mikal Cronin, and they even brought back the old saw – Patrick Mullins, that is – on saw and electronics. A return and a refinement of old forms, a few solemn meditations on life lived at high velocity, perhaps a respite from it…a softer side of JPD and distinguished company. Listen to the title track below.
LISTEN TO “MEMORY OF A CUT OFF HEAD”
http://bit.ly/2wJQNUt

PRE-ORDER MEMORY OF A CUT OFF HEAD
http://bit.ly/2wiTwSM

MEMORY OF A CUT OFF HEAD TRACKLISTING
1. Memory of a Cut Off Head
2. Cannibal Planet
3. The Baron Sleeps and Dreams
4. The Remote Viewer
5. On & On Corridor
6. Neighbor To None
7. The Fool
8. The Chopping Block
9. Time Tuner
10. Lift A Finger

 

PRAISE FOR ORC

“With their latest full-length, and a minor name change, John Dwyer’s garage-punk band continues to travel further toward rock’s outer limits.” – Pitchfork (7.4/10)

“The record is an absolutely evil stunner from front to back, top to bottom, head to toes and everywhere in between, and whips up the same kind of radiant, strange awe that the band’s overdriven catalog has so generously perpetrated album after wicked album.” – Paste (9.5/1010)

“Many have tried to knock the crown from his head, but essentially most just need to come to the conclusion that they’re not even on the same mountain.” – Raven Sings The Blues

“Whatever their lineup happens to look like, Oh Sees are here to deliver surrealist vignettes of horror and revelation. Dwyer paints sprawling auditory cartoons of aliens, mythical creatures and dominions of the otherworldly here.” – Exclaim! (8/10)

OH SEES/OCS TOUR DATES
Thu. Aug. 31 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
Fri. Sept. 1 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
Sat. Sept. 2 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister Bar
Mon. Sept. 4 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas Outside
Tue. Sept. 5 – New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s
Wed. Sept. 6 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
Sept. 7 – Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Music Festival
Fri. Sept. 8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero Theater
Sa. Sept. 9 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
Sun. Sept. 10 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
Wed. Sept. 13 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
Thu. Sept. 14 – Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe I Le National
Fri. Sept. 15 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Theater
Sat. Sept. 16 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
Sun. Sept. 17 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Tue. Sept. 19 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
Fri. Sept. 22 – Missoula, MT @ Monk’s
Sat. Sept. 23 – Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s
Sun. Sept. 24 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
Mon. Sept. 25 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Wed. Sept. 27 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Thur. Sept. 28 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall

Purchase Orc – https://www.midheaven.com/item/orc-by-oh-sees
Hi-res photos/album art: http://pitchperfectpr.com/thee-oh-sees/

Oh Sees Online:
http://www.theeohsees.com
https://www.castlefacerecords.com
https://www.castlefacerecords.com/collections/thee-oh-sees

Damaged Bug – Bunker Funk

Damaged Bug is another side project of Oh Sees founder John Dwyer. He’s put out a few solo albums (2014’s Hubba Bubba and 2015’s Cold Hot Plumbs) under this moniker by now, and his latest, Bunker Funk, is another solid effort.

The opening din of “Bog Dash” is like an alarm clock waking you up from a great dream in your fourth REM cycle of the night. The guitars sound like someone played them while drunk and stumbling up a stairway, and the drumbeat is crisp as fresh popcorn. The tune, as you can expect from Dwyer, heads straight into psychedelia and “The Cryptologist” follows this path. Dwyer’s lyrics are almost a whispered chant luring us into some dark tomb or hidden city.

“Slay the Priest” is full of throbbing synths mixed with clanging percussion while Dwyer sings about (I think) ritual combat between him and a druid. “Ugly Gamma” reminds me of Flaming Lips tracks with its weird synthesizer sounds and creepy vocals. It’s one of the coolest tracks on the record. I have no idea what a “jummy” is in “Rick’s Jummy.” I don’t even know if “jummy” is a noun or adjective. I do know that the song is a nice, trippy piece of psychedelia. “Our love keeps us alive, everyone else has died,” Dwyer sings. I suppose he’s right, in the grand scheme of things.

“Gimme Tamanthum” is another weird, chant-like track with soaring guitar chords throughout it. “No One Notice the Fly” has a great flute riff throughout it that makes it sound like a 1970’s action TV show theme. The album’s title track is equally funky, especially in the drumbeats and cymbal crashes. “Mood Slime” almost sounds like a warped record as Dwyer sings about a garden spider and a lovely woman who might be leaving him. “Liquid Desert” is appropriately weird for its title and blends rock drums with keyboards that sound like Gary Wilson played them while in a bad mood. “Unmanned Scanner” is the closest Dwyer comes to replicating his work with Thee Oh Sees, as it’s full of loud, jangly, almost chaotic guitars. “The Night Shopper” sends the album out on a mellow note, complete with a long fade out of silence.

This is an intriguing, weird, and trippy record, but you’d expect no less from Mr. Dwyer. I suppose you could funk out to it in a bunker, but I wouldn’t if you were locked in there for a long time. It might freak you out too much.

Keep your mind open.

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Oh Sees deliver new single, “Animated Violence,” from upcoming album.

OH SEES SHARE “ANIMATED VIOLENCE” OFF UPCOMING ALBUM ORC

CASTLE FACE AUCTIONS OFF HAND-PAINTED TEST PRESSINGS FOR DOWNTOWN WOMEN’S CENTER

ORC OUT AUGUST 25TH ON CASTLE FACE

Today, Oh Sees share one of their heaviest songs yet, the punishing “Animated Violence.” It comes to us off their forthcoming album (their 19th album is 20 years!), Orc, out 8/25 on Castle Face.

LISTEN TO “ANIMATED VIOLENCE”
http://bit.ly/2sMKAT7

Also, Castle Face has listed 14 Dwyer-hand-painted test pressings for auction on eBay, with all the proceeds going to the Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles. Castle Face’s co-captain Matt Jones:

We here at Castle Face are committed to making positive change in our community, and the homelessness epidemic in downtown Los Angeles is a tragic and complex issue. Homeless women in particular are an especially vulnerable population and we are happy to help out in any way that we can to assist in permanent solutions for them and our community. This auction features test pressings of the last smattering of John Dwyer’s projects with the label – Coachwhips, Oh Sees, and Damaged Bug are all represented – and feature one of a kind artwork on the jackets by the man himself, rendered in black and glow in the dark ink. 
BID ON HAND-PAINTED TEST PRESSINGS
http://ebay.to/2uOB6Ik 

Finally, the band has announced a second show at Warsaw in Brooklyn. Don’t miss to see the greatest live band of the decade as it enters its third decade of existence!
LYRICS TO “ANIMATED VIOLENCE”

OLD IS WARRIOR
DRINK THE POISON
I AM WARRIOR
CRUSH YOUR HEAD IN

WHO IS AT THE DOOR
BLASTING LIFE AWAY?
I AM WARRIOR
FEAST ON FAMILY

WHY IS WARRIOR
SWINGING BLUDGEON?
HOW DOES WARRIOR
SWALLOW DYNASTY?

AND WOE IS WARRIOR
CRACKING ARMOR
SWOLLEN BELLY UP
ON DISMAL VISTA

WHO IS THE WARRIOR?

LISTEN TO “THE STATIC GOD”
http://bit.ly/2s27Yix

OH SEES TOUR DATES
Sat. July 22 – Sun. July 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ FYF
Sun. Aug. 6 – Katowice, PL @ OFF Festival
Tue. Aug. 8 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
Thu. Aug. 10 – Oslo, NO @ Oya Festival
Fri. Aug. 11 – Gothenburg, DW @ Way Out West Festival
Sat. Aug. 12 – Copenhagen, DK @ Pumpehuset
Fri. Aug. 18 – Saint Malo, FR @ La Route du Rock
Sat. Aug. 19 – Brecon Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival
Fri. Sept. 1 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
Sat. Sept. 2 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister Bar
Mon. Sept. 4 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas Outside
Tue. Sept. 5 – New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s
Wed. Sept. 6 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
Fri. Sept. 8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero Theater
Sa. Sept. 9 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
Sun. Sept. 10 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
Wed. Sept. 13 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
Thu. Sept. 14 – Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe I Le National
Fri. Sept. 15 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Theater
Sat. Sept. 16 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
Sun. Sept. 17 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Tue. Sept. 19 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
Fri. Sept. 22 – Missoula, MT @ Monk’s
Sat. Sept. 23 – Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s
Sun. Sept. 24 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
Mon. Sept. 25 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Wed. Sept. 27 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Thur. Sept. 28 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall

Pre-order Orc – https://www.midheaven.com/item/orc-by-oh-sees
Hi-res photos/album art: http://pitchperfectpr.com/thee-oh-sees/

Oh Sees release new single, “The Static God,” from upcoming album.

THEE OH SEES ARE DEAD. LONG LIVE OH SEES

NEW ALBUM ORC, OUT AUG. 25TH ON CASTLE FACE; LISTEN TO “THE STATIC GOD“

OH SEES CELEBRATE 20 YEARS OF UNFETTERED EXISTENCE WITH 19TH ALBUM

Oh Sees are the latest incarnation of songwriter, singer, guitarist (and Castle Face fearless leader) John Dwyer’s ever-evolving rock-pop-folk psychedelic group. Dwyer has been active since the late ’90s, working with several bands, including the Coachwhips, Pink & Brown, Yikes, Up Its Alive, and Swords & Sandals, among others, and he formed OCS (which is an acronym for Orinoka Crash Suite, Orange County Sound, or whatever Dwyer decided it was on any given day) initially as a vehicle for the experimental instrumentals he was producing in his home studio. The project entered its 20th year of existence in 2017.

In time OCS morphed into an actual band, and worked under the usual flurry of names, most notably as The Oh Sees or The Ohsees, and eventually as Thee Oh Sees. The band’s lineup has spawned and  re-spawned a few times before reaching their current incarnation featuring Tim Hellman on bass, Dan Rincon and Paul Quattrone on drums.

And now, the newly shorn Oh Sees waste no time in racing headlong into nightmarish battle with their mighty new record Orc (Dwyer’s 19th album as OCS/Thee Oh Sees/Oh Sees, etc.), and wouldn’t ya know it, they’ve clawed even farther up the ghastly peak last year’s A Weird Exits stormed so satisfyingly. The band is in tour-greased, anvil on a balance beam, gut-pleasingly heavy form, nimbly braining with equal dashes of abandon and menace on this fresh batch of bruisers and brooders, hypnotically stirred into to the cauldron of chaos you’ve come to expect from, ahem, Oh Sees. Quattrone and Dan Rincon form a phalanx of interlocking double drums, alternately propelling and fleet footing shifting ground to pinion Dwyer’s cliff-face guitars to the boogie. Tim Hellman keeps it swinging like a battle-axe to the eyebrows. More evil….more complex, more narcotic, more screech, more roar, more whisper, there’s even more Brigid Dawson. Less “Thee”, but more of everything else, Orc is out on Castle Face Records August 25th. Listen to the blistering first track “The Static God.”
LISTEN TO “THE STATIC GOD”
http://bit.ly/2s27Yix

ORC TRACKLISTING
1. The Static God
2. Nite Expo
3. Animated Violence
4. Keys To The Castle
5. Jettison
6. Cadaver Dog
7. Paranoise
8. Cooling Tower
9. Drowned Beast
10. Raw Optics

OH SEES TOUR DATES
Thu. June 7 – Milano, IT @ Magnolia
Fri. June 8 – Ravenna, IT @ Beaches Brew
Sat. June 9 – Dudingen, CH @ Bad Bonn
Sun. June 10 – Nimes, FR @ This Is Not A Love Song
Mon. June 11 – Bordeaux, FR @ le block
Tue. June 12 – Tours, FR @ le temps machine
Thu. June 14 – Manchester University, UK @ Transformers
Sat. June 17 – San Francisco, CA @ Phono Del Sol Festival
Sat. July 22 – Sun. July 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ FYF
Sun. Aug. 6 – Katowice, PL @ OFF Festival
Tue. Aug. 8 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
Thu. Aug. 10 – Oslo, NO @ Oya Festival
Fri. Aug. 11 – Gothenburg, DW @ Way Out West Festival
Sat. Aug. 12 – Copenhagen, DK @ Pumpehuset
Fri. Aug. 18 – Saint Malo, FR @ La Route du Rock
Sat. Aug. 19 – Brecon Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival
Fri. Sept. 1 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
Sat. Sept. 2 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister Bar
Mon. Sept. 4 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas Outside
Tue. Sept. 5 – New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s
Wed. Sept. 6 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
Fri. Sept. 8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero Theater
Sun. Sept. 10 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
Wed. Sept. 13 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
Thu. Sept. 14 – Montreal, QC @ La Tulipe I Le National
Fri. Sept. 15 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Theater
Sat. Sept. 16 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
Sun. Sept. 17 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Tue. Sept. 19 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
Fri. Sept. 22 – Missoula, MT @ Monk’s
Sat. Sept. 23 – Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s
Sun. Sept. 24 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
Mon. Sept. 25 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom

Hi-res photos/album art: http://pitchperfectpr.com/thee-oh-sees/

Oh Sees Online:
http://www.theeohsees.com
https://www.castlefacerecords.com
https://www.castlefacerecords.com/collections/thee-oh-sees