Album: Floating Coffin
Artist: Thee Oh Sees
Genre: Psychedelic Garage-rock
8.5/10
I think this is the record that has established Thee Oh Sees as one of my favorite bands. They're just so friggin' consistent. John Dwyer has about a million song ideas in his head and he records every one of them. Plus they release an album every year. I don't know how they do it to be honest.
On this new record, and with each of their records, they tweak their signature sound with one key alteration. With Floating Coffin Thee Oh Sees take a dark and twisted turn. You could see this change with your very eyes just by watching the video for "Toe Cutter- Thumb Buster" or by looking at the album cover. John Dwyer's sweet falsetto is directly contrasted with furious guitars, pounding drums, and noisy solos. Album opener "I Come From the Mountain" features classic Oh Sees guitar noisiness alongside strong simple melodic keyboard leads. The next track features a much angrier and more powerful two-chord progression. It establishes a sludgy quality that contrasts with a lighter chromatic quality.
Guitar layering is a key musical motif in this record as well. Dwyer layers guitar part on guitar part in every song, focusing it especially in 'No Spell" and "Strawberries 1 + 2". This syncopation has been less pronounced on their previous records, but is a welcome addition on this one. It gives it a full, rich sound while still retaining that glorious DIY attitude.
It's also their most intense record, with large crescendos and frantic dynamic shifts. Distortion is a key element not only in the instrumentation, but in the vocal filtering. John Dwyer is mostly intelligible, with only the crunchy melody coming through. The dark lyrics cannot be understood, but once you read them alongside, the record becomes that much more disturbing.
But don't let the scariness scare you off! These songs are very enjoyable and quite accessible. The first two tracks should hook you for the rest of the album. You'll be hypnotized by the drums and the guitar breaks will make you say "Fuck Yeah!". At least they did for me. The only real problem I have with this record is that they put the two best tracks as the first two songs. 8.5 coffins out of 10
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