OCS - "Memory Of A Cut Off Head"

Oh boy, well this was another review that I wasn't expecting to have to do!  Nonetheless, what a nice surprise it is.  Thee Oh Sees are Garage Rock and Psychedelic Rock legends and for good reason.  The twisted mind of frontman John Dwyer, set amongst the usually very throttling and unpredictable Psychedelic Punk of the Oh Sees is just such a fascinating hybrid.  I got into these guys around the time they changed their name to Thee Oh Sees, right in time for them to release "The Masters Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In".  This album, maybe the band's darkest.  It's a drug-fueled party so loud and intense that this album practically bleeds LSD.  But it's a damn fun one, filled with sinister hooks and wild instrumentals.  It's a bizarre and dark album, but oh boy is it ever fun.  2009's "Help" showed Oh Sees really starting to get comfortable with their sound.  This was an album that was just as haunting from time to time, and truly strange.  But it began to show John Dwyer's roots in Psychedelic Folk/Pop, and it was wonderful.  Tracks like "Ruby Go Home" and "Can You See" were equal parts hypnotic and catchy.  But there were just enough tough riffs and big solos to please any Oh Sees fan.  What stinks is though, that I don't really have much to say about either the band's "Dog Poison" or "Warm Slime" album.  These two albums are a serious down point for Oh Sees, with almost no tracks at all really standing out. While nothing was necessarily bad about these releases, it just seemed like Oh Sees were running out of ideas and fast.  Thankfully though, Thee Oh Sees bounced back strong igniting what would become a string of incredible albums.  In 2011 the band released "Castlemania", an underrated gem in my opinion.  I love to hear John Dwyer at his most twisted, and that's what this album is.  Here, Thee Oh Sees stripped back their sound to create a much more Freak Folk and Psychedelic Folk sound.  This album was often incredibly dark, but it was also an absolute blast, sort of like a B-List Horror Movie.  Tracks like "AA Warm Breeze", "Spider Cider" and "I Need Seed" are just brilliant Oh Sees tracks, and this album shouldn't be missed. But for all of you out there.  But for fans of Thee Oh Sees at their heavier, 2011's "Carrion Crawler/The Dream" was truly next level.  This album is brutal and intense, and easily the wildest thing that Oh Sees have done yet.  The guitar solos are seemingly endless, and John Dwyer's performances are just so freakish and lovable.  It's easily the most Psychedelic thing Oh Sees had done up to that point, but it's still just a blast to listen to. Thee Oh Sees continued their prolific run with 2012's criminally overlooked "Purifiers II".  This album was a little more stripped back, honing in once again on John Dwyer's obsession with late 60's Psych Rock.  Tracks like "Hang A Picture" and "Flood's New Light" were just so catchy and memorable, while tracks like "Wax Face" continued the band's wild experimental streak.  But one thing remained constant, and that's how unpredictable Thee Oh Sees are.  With every album, I truly found myself never knowing what I was going to hear next.  The band's next release "Floating Coffin" showed them going hard back into the Wild, Psychedelic direction.  It's an intense album fueled by guitar solos and violent imagery, but it's also strangely easy to swallow.  As a matter of fact, when people ask where to start in Thee Oh Sees discography, I usually tell them "Floating Coffin".  But as decent as "Floating Coffin" is, I love hearing Thee Oh Sees at their most freakish and strange.  Luckily for me, Oh Sees would begin a long journey down that route.  2014's "Drop" was a return to the sort of very colorful, twisted Psych music that got them going years ago.  Tracks like "Camera (Queer Sound)", "The Lens", and "Drop" were both completely bizarre yet also really intriguing.  Dwyer's most twisted, vibrant lyrics yet appeared on here, but it still remained accessible and most importantly a blast.  2015's "Mutilator Defeated At Last" continued to show the band progressing down a weirder route which I loved.  This album had almost a Sci-Fi feel or at the very least a B-List Horror feel.  But I think what made these albums so much freakin' fun, was just how much fun Thee Oh Sees were having.  Like, you could literally feel that John Dwyer and company were just having a blast writing these very freakish and bizarre psych tunes.  But as I said, I love to hear Dwyer at his most freakish, which we certainly got with 2016's "A Weird Exits".  This album was a hard dive into a more Sci-Fi sound for Thee Oh Sees, and it was unbelievably wonderful.  Thee Oh Sees on this album basically were writing the exciting soundtrack to a bloody, over-the-top Sci-Fi movie, and man was it ever fun.  Now, I did think some of the more Jam oriented tracks like "Unwrap the Fiend Pt II" and "Jammed Entrance" would be so much more interesting in a live setting.  But this was still a very wild and exciting album that continued to show Thee Oh Sees were completely fearless.  Speaking of fearless, wild Psych Rock, that's exactly what we got earlier this year with "Orc".  Once again, some of the jams sort of gave me the impression that they would have been much better live.  But still, the majority of this album was completely wild and unhinged.  Now known simply as Oh Sees, this was a vibrant and often bloody album that proved that these guys were the absolute top of the food chain when it came to Psych rock.  So here we are, only a few months later with a brand new album from Oh Sees.  There's been another name change, as now they're just OCS.  But what's intrigued me about these new singles, is that the band is going for a more stripped back sound.  Even more interesting, is how the band is seemingly returning to their Freak Folk roots, and I've always loved that era.  So, lets talk about this new OCS album.

( A personal favorite of mine!)

This album starts off with it’s title track, “Memory of a Cut Off Head”.  It’s a very smooth intro, especially because OCS have made a career out of wild and scratchy production.  There’s a whole lot of elements going into this that quite frankly we haven’t heard from the group in quite some time.  Mostly, it’s that classic rock inspiration.  Dwyer since day 1 has been fascinated with that classic California Psych Pop and Psych Rock sound, and it’s on full blast here.  This track just sounds so cool, and in a really weird way comes off like John Dwyer truly fulfilling his Psych Rock fantasy.  Now, the vocals are super breezy.  But it’s just so nice to hear Brigid and John singing together again.  Some of their vocal harmonies are actually wonderful, and the strings flowing through the background as well as the visceral lyrics truly make this an OCS song.  This track ushers in the album wonderfully, and it’s just something I haven’t heard from OCS in a very long time.  Then we have “Cannibal Planet”, and as this album goes on I just can’t get enough of the vibe of this album.  Everything just comes off so tortured and twisted between the sweet licks and harmonies.  Now, this track really is an OCS track at heart, with all of this violent and truly creepy imagery that I fell in love with years ago.  But OCS take that sort of imager and give it this seriously catchy, memorable chorus and instantly we’re dealing with a totally different tune.  The amount of tension here is so well done.  Now, one thing I’ve always had a slight issue with when it comes to OCS is just how often they push material out.  Their album’s come out so frequently that sometimes they blend together.  On the other hand, tracks like “Cannibal Planet” and others here sound like it was thought about for a seriously long time.  Some of those backing instrumentals continue to be seriously twisted, like those keyboards that come off just so bizarre and tortured.  But then the strings and vocal harmonies turn this around and make it much easier to swallow and totally catchy.  Then we have “The Remote Viewer” which actually comes off like some of the material from their “Orc’ album, with that heavy fantasy vibe really coming off strongly.  Dwyer and Brigid’s performance here are just so light and eerie.  Now, on moments like this, I feel like this album falters a little bit, but only a little.  The thing is, I love the duo’s vocal performances so much, as they really bring in a lot of tension among their harmonies.  But instrumentally, this one is just a little too bare bones for me, especially after just how lavish and well thought out the last few tracks have been.  On the other hand, the sort of Noire vibe to this one is really charming, fans of Timber Timbre may seriously be into this.  Also, I love just how somber John Dwyer’s performance here comes off, describing himself as a “Junkie For Despair”.  In a weird way, it almost reminds me of just how tortured Josh Homme sounded on Queens of the Stone Age’s “Like Clockwork”.   “The Remote Viewer” I think could have been taken a little further, but it’s still really enjoyable in a lot of ways.  “The Baron Sleeps and Dreams” however right off the bat is much more colorful with some nice strings and tightly wound guitars.  It’s really charming with just how dark it comes off.  I actually really can’t remember the last time we heard OCS in such a very vast environment and working with so many instruments (honestly, probably never).   Obviously, there’s still a huge sci-fi element within all of these synths, but I’m really glad that Dwyer has kept that around, as it’s become such a part of their sound.  It gives the band a real apocalyptic feel, which matched up against the very harmonious vocals and stripped down sound is really fascinating.  It’s a really solid instrumental tune overall.  I’m not saying this one is anything to write home about, but it certainly fits the theme of the album and reminds you of just who you’re dealing with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdESaiFT0n8

    “On & On Corridor” on the other hand, is one of the finest moments here.  This one goes back in the upbeat direction that we saw this album starting with.  And honestly, I really think that’s a good idea with tracks like “The Remote Viewer’ losing me at parts.  Not to mention, its tracks like this that really draw out the most harmonies between John Dwyer and Brigid Dawson.   I love the very twisted and psychedelic lyrics here that are pretty damn horrifying.  But it’s actually Brigid’s very ghoulish performance here that really brings this one home.  I love hearing OCS go all out with the weirdness, and that’s what “On & On Corridor” is all about.  In a lot of ways, this really is the biggest homecoming for old-school OCS fans.  There are no extended jams, low-fi production, or wild solos.  But it’s overflowing with personality, and it just an absolute blast.  I just really hope OCS keep this up.  “Neighbor To None” is up next, and it may be the most straight-up Folk Tune OCS have ever done.  I like a lot of the instrumentals, and I do like Dwyer and Brigid’s performances which get pretty heartwarming in a bizarre way.   But outside of that, I feel like this one is underwritten.  It’s one of the shortest tunes here, and while it is very sweet, it doesn’t have that OCS feel.  There are a few twisted lines here and there, but nothing about this tells me it’s an OCS track, and that sucks.  But “The Fool” right off the bat gives me that really uneasy feeling flowing through the background and I’m instantly won back.  Even with just how sweet and delicate Brigid’s performance is, there’s a real uneasiness to this one.  Like, these songs are really a whole new animal for OCS, because this is just about the sweetest and most heartfelt song that OCS has ever done.  But it’s seriously charming, and I can’t get enough of it.  Now, I know, I’m sounding like the biggest hypocrite after bashing the last track.  Mostly because this track really doesn’t come off like much of an OCS track either.  But it’s sweet and beautiful, and just works for me.  Plus, it’s Brigid all on her own, and that’s something I really haven’t heard.  But for all of you that want OCS to pick up the pace, “The Chopping Block” is for you.  This one instantly is more of a Folk-Rock tune than anything.  It’s moments like this that really win this incarnation of OCS over for me.  I love the return of some of the more bizarre and horror-themed lyrics, even though this clearly hasn’t gotten any heavier instrumentally.  In a weird way, this actually comes off like a stripped down tune from their “Castlemania” album. It’s got all of those classic Psych Pop/Psych Rock instrumentals, and Dwyer and Brigid’s performance is sweet (until you realizes just how out there the lyrics are).  It’s dark, it’s twisted, “The Chopping Block” is 100% OCS.  But it’s moments like this that excite me the most.  It’s moments like this, where Dwyer sounds so close to breaking out into a heavier verse that intrigues me so much.  With Brigid back in the OCS roster, and their music sounding more focused than ever, I feel like they can make their best album yet if they do a heavier and more Psychedelic album with Brigid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DNyhdPZHho

    One thing I have to commend OCS on is just how uneasy the atmosphere is on this album.  With tracks like “Time Turner”, they really take on the sound of the Psych Pop band’s that inspired them and make it sinister.  I’m going to sound like a broken record, but once again I feel like the music here could have soundtracked a brutally violent animated film.  Now instrumentally, this one is a low point for the album mostly because it’s so repetitive and doesn’t end up going anywhere.  But while this track is far from the best tune here, there are still small elements here and there that certainly do excite me.  Obviously, “Time Turner” didn't need to be 6 minutes, however, especially with how one-dimensional it is.  This album ends off with “Lift A Finger”, and it’s actually exactly what I want to hear from them as a finale.  It’s a totally bizarre Psych Pop tune with plenty of darkness underneath.  It’s a really sweet tune, which is made a little more OCS like and unnerving by Brigid’s ghoulish performance.  It’s a straightforward finale, with plenty of horror-themed lyrics matched up with charming instrumentals.  It’s a nice ending, but man does it ever have my mouth watering for what OCS are going to do next. 

Rating: 8.1/10

Give A Listen To:  “Memory Of A Cut Off Head”, “On & On Corridor”, “The Fool”, “The Chopping Block”

Genre:  Freak-Folk / Psychedelic Rock / Folk Rock

Overall Thoughts: This is an album was I've been really anticipating.  This is the first time that OCS have done with Brigid Dawson in a very long time, but they pick up basically exactly where they left off.  Now, if you weren't into some of the band's early Freak-Folk sound, this is probably not going to be an album that you enjoy. But on the other hand, if you like hearing John Dwyer allow himself to really explore his influences, all while upping the weirdness factor as always, you may enjoy this.  No, there aren't any real guitar solos or freak outs instrumentally, as far as that goes this album is pretty tame.  But if you're into hearing something new from OCS, this is certainly a very good release from the band.