Staff Reviews

Thee Oh Sees - Putrifiers II

Review by Dom Gourlay

One constant throughout Thee Oh Sees' 15-year-career is that you never quite know what to expect next.»

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thee oh sees have progressed from main man john dwyer's noise punk roots in coachwhips and pink and brown into a sprawling beast that hoovers up psychedelic, garage, acid-streaked rock, and even battered folk influences. if one prefers a slightly more subtle musical awakening, there's always putrifiers ii, the latest in a long line of oh sees albums that expands the group's sound well past your friendly neighborhood garage band. so while the space-odyssey nods of 'wax face' actually sound like they're meant to melt one's ears straight off, the record's full of deviant detours, from the poison-tipped string parts and eno-esque engineering of so nice' to the groove-locked krautrock inclinations of 'lupine dominus.' the most noticeable element may be dwyer's melodies, however, as they reveal a softer side to his songwriting, one that makes perfect sense considering just how disparate his dust-clearing influences are. scott walker, the velvet underground, the zombies and the experimental japanese act les rallizes denudes are but a small taste of what informed thee oh sees this time around, as dwyer returned to the multi-instrumental ways of castlemania's full-band sessions. rounded out a fuller, drier sound with drummer / engineer chris woodhouse and special guests like mikal cronin (sax), heidi maureen alexander (trumpet, vocals) and k dylan edrich (viola).
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