In art, contrary to some aspects of life, quantity is never more important than quality. Yet, some artists manage to sooth both spectrums. John Dwyer, the frontman of the band Thee Oh Sees which have recently got rid off that Thee in the name, is probably the most prolific artists on music scene, alongside Ty Segall. It is as Of the two of them are competing who is going to drop more singles and EPs, so it's not unusual for them to release up to five albums per year combined.
If you loved previous two albums by Thee Oh Sees, A Weird Exit and An Odd Entrances, as writer of these lines did, then Orc will be a cherry on top for the upcoming crescendo of the autumn. Spoiler alert: you may play air guitar while listening to this album with the turned up volume. High-octane, pulsating garage punk which Californian group got us hooked up is now enriched with hints of psychedelic, industrial and krautrock. Plentiful guitar sections, drums, peculiar violins and twisted vocals create sonic frenzy and harmonious anarchy in which Dwyer and co feel like at home. Who would have thought pimped up punk can sound so cozy.
Atmosphere on the album is consistent in its inconsistency. You could say that the atmosphere has borderline personality disorder. Even a single song can offer numerous diversions and complex audio layers that are colliding into each other. Limits of experimentations are erased, and that just shows how talented this group of people are. It seems that Oh Sees have found their place in the universe through being eccentric. Welcome to the club, Oh Sees.
On schizoid garage number The Static God that opens the album, you will immediately be introduced to the erosive punk power of Oh Sees created by guitars and two sets of drums. Following Nite Expo starts as a cosmic mantra before turning into effective psychedelic-garage hybrid. Animated Violence is excursion to heavy metal, full of ups and downs, but stabilized by Dwyer's signature style. Drowned Beast is on the similar path, only with few more calm moments, while Cooling Tower is the most infectious track on this collection. The interplay of marching rhythm and guitar on Paranoise sounds irresistible, while the sound of organ on Cadaver Dog brings ceremonial tone. Eight minute Keys To The Stone is the weirdest jam on the album. After it shakes everything up in the first two minutes, it transitions into instrumental improvisation powered by piano and violins. The album ends with Raw Optics, a guitar solo with sporadic guitar interruptions. It represent the perfect closure of one of the year's most thrilling releases.
