Thee Oh Sees – “Carrion Crawler / The Dream EP” – [In The Red Records]

Thurston Hunger   11/23/2011   A Library, CD

Orinoka Crash Suite. With the toot sweet amphetamine
cheerleading bleeding rock, vocals more an instrument
than a lyric delivery system. At times I wonder if John
Dwyer just yelped syllables originally and penciled in
the words much later. Tracks spiked by noise sprinkles,
from sax whips on the opener, to robot hiccups on “Crushed
Grass” to a 60’s sci-fi synth on “Wrong Idea.” Lots of
times, Thee Oh Sees ride a crescendo’ing high note over
the top of a song, sometimes a guitar effect overdriving,
to help sustain the excitement propelled by drums where
the brakes don’t work. Yeah, Dwyer may write killer riffs
in his dreams, nurtured by power-chord pillows and
half-step lumbar support but his 12-string slash and
chucka-chucka-churn guitar playing is not to be overlooked.
Nor the kraut rock karate moves mixed in here. Another
KFJC hit, but when will Wes Anderson connect this band
and Crispin Glover in a film. Waiting…

-Thurston Hunger