Thee Oh Sees - Drop

Thee Oh Sees - Drop

Castle Face (USA); 2014 | Garage, Psychedelic

Rating: A-

Around five to six months ago frontman Nick Dwyer announced that Thee Oh Sees would be going on a small hiatus. Having released an eye opening eight studio albums between 2008 and 2013, not to mention a boat load of EPs and singles, how could anyone really blame the group? Well, with 2014’s Drop, the band has now reached studio album number nine.

The album kicks off with lead single “Penetrating Eye,” beginning with a psychedelic synth interlude, the song soon kicks into a Brian Jonestown Massacre-esque rock groove, with Nick Dwyer’s trademark nasal grunt in top form. The overall aesthetic that comes across is extremely reminiscent of the garage rock underground of the late sixties and early seventies. A lot of which can be found on that wonderful compilation, Nuggets: Original Artifacts From The First Psychedelic Era.

The next two tracks, “Encrypted Bounce” and “Savage Victory,” follow pretty much the same blueprint. “Put Some Reverb On It Brother” ends up sounding like an ever more psyched out modern day Syd Barrett impression. “Drop” and “Camera” are wonderfully catchy, and find the band at some of their most melodic, yet still intact with their psychedelic garage rock schtick. One of the biggest surprises is the final track “The Lens.” A dreamy gem which feels as if straight from Sgt. Pepper or a Zombies record. With a soaring woodwind section, and some “A Day In The Life” keyboards for good measure.

One thing that really impressed me with Drop is how textured it sounds. Though retaining that harsh, loose gruffness, the songs are also layered beautifully and sit nicely in a colorful, dreamy haze. For a band whose live show is an unrelenting blur of energy and savage rock n’ roll, Drop sounds very much like a studio album, and I mean that in a good way.

Thee Oh Sees are a band that know what they do, do it well and it seems like they love doing it more than anything. Drop is a very solid collection of songs, however, I’m wondering if a larger progression in sound is necessary for this group to continue to stay relevant. The release of this album was a surprise, but how these songs turned out was not. In no way is that a bad thing, and if anything they are producing some of the best songs this style of music has to offer. I am very interested in where they go from here.
This article first appeared in Issue 10, 2014.
Posted 4:20pm Sunday 4th May 2014 by Adrian Ng.