Thee Oh Sees - A Weird Exits

Now anyone who knows me, knows that I'm the biggest sucker for garage rock/garage punk.  I fell in love with Thee Oh Sees years ago, around the same time that I really got into Ty Segall and The Black Lips.  Thee Oh Sees though have been as far as I'm concerned much more consistent then alot of other contemporaries.  Since the release of the twisted "The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending The Night In", Thee Oh Sees haven't really released a truly bad album.  Yes, "Warm Slime" is underwhelming and I completely forgot "Drop" existed until a few days ago.  Outside of that though, the bands catalog is stacked with great Garage Rock and Garage Punk records.  And seeing this awesome album cover, I expected another solid record, shall we dig in?

This album starts off with the very slick “Dead Man’s Gun”.  Right off the bat, this is clearly the most straightforward, no nonsense start to an Oh Sees album I’ve heard in quite some time.  Now, one of the most notable things here is the production.  Oddly enough this production is actually really clear, absolutely a far cry from their days of “The Masters Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In” albums.  The production back in those days was so grimy and frantic and wild that you literally felt like you were right there with the Oh Sees as they pumped out every last sinister garage rock tune.  This is just as frantic, but much more streamlined, and less “in the moment”.  It may turn some people away, and I do miss that old feeling of being right there with them, but it’s something I can get over.  As far as John Dwyer’s vocals go, it’s really what you expect, but not in a bad way.  I’ve always loved Dwyer’s performances, they always seem so unhinged and wild.  Here, it’s no different.  I honestly haven’t heard Dwyer this aggressive in years, and those primal yelps in between verses are nothing but magic.  I always feel like the Oh Sees really nail intros to their albums, and this one is no different.  That guitar solo is freakin’ fantastic, and the short, staccato vocals by Dwyer are odd but really go with the paranoia of the record.  And as far as the production goes, even though it’s clearly much cleaner, there is still TONS of fuzzy wonderful guitar feedback.  And seriously, when it comes to Thee Oh Sees, I don’t see how there can’t be.  Not to mention the outro has these wonderful, unnerving guitars that I can’t help but love, Thee Oh Sees never cease to amaze.  Then we have “Ticklish Warrior” which is completely the opposite in feel.  This one starts off with a mega funky guitar riff, it almost sounds like something The Black Keys would have done years ago, you know when they were actually edgy and an actual Garage Rock band (Shots fired).   But as funky and groovy as it gets, the power of this one doesn’t let up.  “Ticklish Warrior” is just so loud and chaotic, and those guitars are so overpowering. Honestly, I haven’t heard the band play with this much raw power in quite some time.  Now the band on this album is seriously going for a horror/sci-fi theme, but Dwyer’s distant, pained vocals add so much to that.  Now “Ticklish Warrior” isn’t exactly the psychedelic slap in the face that most people are accustomed to when it comes to Thee Oh Sees, and I know people are very judgmental of their slower stuff.  But personally, I think this is one of the better slow burning Oh Sees tracks I’ve heard.  A few tracks later we have “Plastic Plant” one of the early tracks released from the album.  Following a few of the more experimental, slower tracks here, “Plastic Plant” is super eye opening.  All of your classic Oh Sees elements are right here, between the wailing guitars and thunderous drums.  It’s triumphant as all hell, and when everything falls back and Dwyer’s vocals are in charge, man is it ever a solid moment.  There are plenty of oddball keyboards and sci-fi sounding effects that work perfectly with Dwyer’s performance.  Add all of this with  the primal yelps and the sheer chaos of the band here, and you’ve got a truly classic Oh Sees track.  John Dwyer overall just writes such solid rock tunes, and the solo here is easily the most pronounced and epic instrumental i’ve heard from them in ages.  Not to mention, the little “Jam session” towards the end of the track is totally tasteful and interesting, with great use of flutes floating through the background.  There are so many great moments to even count here people. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agZqIr37rmE&spfreload=5

Now as I said earlier, this is Thee Oh Sees going for a more Sci-Fi sound,  so you know there’s gonna be plenty of weird stuff going on here.  Most of it works just fine, but there’s some instances I really can’t get over and are just a little too far out there.  Take for example “Jammed Entrance”.  This is easily the track with the most Sci-Fi influence so far.  However, this track is barely even a garage rock tune, this is practically an experimental rock or even a progressive rock track.  The bass here is super funky which I love, but the keyboards to me just get so obnoxious so fast, which really sucks.  Now while this is far from my favorite, it does add to the sheer chaos of the album.  It gives off this great impression that we’re watching some over the top Sci-Fi movie in which the crew on a spaceship has accidentally hit the self destruct button and need to get out.  When it comes to the atmosphere, Thee Oh Sees really nail it.  As far as melodies go and all, they kinda drop the ball here.  The keyboards are a little too cheesy, and to me “Jammed Entrance” would be ten times more interesting watching it live with a little improvisation thrown in there.  It has it’s cool moments, but it certainly didn’t have to be over 5 minutes.  The only other real major problem I have here is on “Unwrap The Fiend, Pt 2”.  The track has a super smooth intro and some great mysterious guitar licks.  Overall it has a lot of the same problems as “Jammed Entrance”.  It does great things for the atmosphere, it really does.  But outside of that it’s just kinda boring.  This is easily the least exciting track on here by far, going back and forth between more funky instrumentals and a more “Jam” oriented feel.  That’s all fine and dandy, its what you would expect out of a Psychedelic band like Thee Oh Sees.  But I feel like this track would be literally so much more interesting live with a little improvisation thrown in.  Like I said though, it absolutely goes with the feel of the album.  

Those are really my only negative thoughts on the album to be honest.  As soon as “Gelatinous Cube” hits, were greeted with this absolutely glorious wall of distortion.  This gigantic wall of sound is broken up quickly by the ferocity of what you would expect from an Oh Sees track.  Dwyer here sounds like an absolute animal, I haven’t heard him with this much aggression in years.  While there are heavier tracks here, this is easily the wildest thing I’ve heard on “A Weird Exits”.  The guitars are unhinged, the drums don’t let up, hell I wouldn’t mind an entire album with this much intensity.  Then we have “Crawl Out From The Fall Out”, which instantly gives me the chills.  The intro of this one is filled with these light cymbal taps and really not that much else, it gives you the impression that something is coming.  The atmosphere gets even more thick when those incredible strings and that horn float into the madness.  I gotta give it to them they really stuck with this Sci-Fi sound so well, this is just so ambitious for them.  However, as far as lyrics, vocals, and energy goes, this really is sort of a snoozefest.  To be perfectly honest, this track would have been a whole lot better as just an instrumental.  It;s still a solid track though, the keyboards add plenty and the backing vocals compliments Dwyer quite a bit.  Which brings us to the album’s finale, “The Axis”.  Were instantly greeted on this one by an oddly cheery, very sunny intro.  As bizarre as that sounds, Thee Oh Sees roll with it wonderfully and I can honestly see them really latching on to that sound.  There are some really old school vibes coming through on this one, and while Dwyer’s performance is on the tame side, his voice is still packed with emotion.  The guitar licks are solid, the keyboards are strong, but honestly it’s not the Oh Sees performance I was expecting at all.  It was a nice surprise though, and literally all of the years of Thee Oh Sees have been feasting on retro sounds have led up to this.  It’s a solid freakin record, but at this point can we really expect much less.  


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB5Nn2FAPTE

Rating: 7.8/10

Give A Listen To: "Plastic Plant", "Gelatinous Cube", "The Axis", "Dead Man's Gun"


Overall Thoughts : For years now, I've been DYING to hear Thee Oh Sees go for a more darker sound like they did on their early recordings.  To an extent, I got that here.  However, with that, comes a much shinier, sweeter production sound that's going to offset a string of longtime fans.  There are a few tracks here that I honestly feel would be much better live with a little extra experimentation and some improv,  However, overall they do the sound justice, especially when you tie in the bands trademark chaos and energy.