Thee Oh Sees

Wikipedia:

Thee Oh Sees is a band from San Francisco, California, USA. The group began as an outlet for John Dwyer (of Coachwhips, Pink and Brown, Landed, Yikes, Burmese, The Hospitals, Zeigenbock Kopf, Sword + Sandals) to release his instrumental, experimental home recordings, and over the course of several albums evolved into a full band. The band is noted for both its prolific album releases, energetic live shows, and their whimsical visual aesthetic that juxtaposes cartoon imagery and horror.

The band has changed its name several times, being known as Orinoka Crash Suite, OCS, Orange County Sound, and The Ohsees.

The band's song "Tidal Wave" is featured in the pool scene of the episode "Salud" (Season 4, Episode 10) of the television series "Breaking Bad".

History [edit]

Early Years and Solo Recordings (1997-2004) [edit]

John Dwyer began using the name "Orinoka Crash Suite" for songs as early as 1997, appearing on compilations many years before using it for full length releases. During this period between before the first OCS album, he continued to focus on his primary bands, first with Pink and Brown, and later with Zeigenbock Kopf and Coachwhips. In all three groups, Dwyer was the main vocalist, and in Coachwhips and Pink and Brown, he also played guitar.

The first album, simply titled , was released in 2003 as the first full album under the OCS name. The first disc was based around acoustic songs, and was individually referred to as 34 Reasons Why Life Goes On Without You. The second disc was a series of "noise" tracks called 18 Reasons To Love Your Hater To Death. None of the songs on either disc have titles. The album's song credits are mostly attributed to John Dwyer, though three are credited to Jeff Rosenberg, who was the drummer under the pseudonym "Brown" in Pink and Brown. The album features several guest musicians, but no one who would continue on to the next album, entitled .

was released in 2004, and was made in a similar fashion to , but with a greater focus on Dwyer's own songwriting and performances.

Transitional Period and Lineup Changes (2005-2007) [edit]

The band slowly transitioned from being Dwyer's side project into his primary group, as his other bands Coachwhips and Zeigenbock Kopf both disbanded during this period (2005 and 2006, respectively).

OCS became a two-piece with the addition of Patrick Mullins who played percussion and saw. The arrangements continued to be simple, though bolstered by the addition or Mullins. 3 - Songs About Death & Dying Vol. 3 and 4 - Get Stoved was released as a two CD set in 2005. was available both as part of this set, and as an individual vinyl release. did not see a vinyl issue until 2008.

Brigid Dawson was previously a member of the duo Mix Tape with Meric Long of The Dodos. She had been working in a coffee shop in San Fransisco, and would frequently see Dwyer visit the shop and put up flyers for his upcoming shows. The two became fast friends, and Dwyer eventually asked Dawson to join the band after he had seen her perform at one of her own performances. Her role includes duet/backing vocals, keyboards, and tambourine. Dawson will ocassionally perform lead vocals (in the cases of "Invitation" on Sucks Blood and "What Are We Craving?" on Castlemania).

As a trio, the band released Cool Death of Island Raiders in 2006, the first release under the name The OhSees. The album featured guest guitar and vocals from Kyp Malone of TV On The Radio.

Petey Dammit joined the group in 2007, as a bassist and occasionally second guitarist. Dammit was previously a member of the two-piece band Tres Ferocious. John Dwyer was familiar with the band's work, and asked him to join when he was looking to expand the lineup of The Ohsees. Dammit's bass playing uncharacteristically involves using an ordinary electric guitar that is fed through an electronic device that makes it sound like a bass guitar. His method of doing this is intentionally kept a secret. Dammit typically favors Fender Jazzmaster guitars for this task, but in Thee Hounds of Foggy Notion, he is also seen using a blue Italia Mondial without this manipulation, for songs that were not recorded with a bass guitar.

The album Sucks Blood followed in 2007. It would be the final studio album to feature Patrick Mullins, but he would appear later in the live DVD/album Thee Hounds Of Foggy Notion that was released in 2008. Mullins moved to Louisville, Kentucky and in 2010 he released a solo album called Don't Go To Sleep.

Mike Shoun joined the band as the new drummer after Mullin's departure. Shoun's arrival coincided with the band's change into a louder garage punk based sound.

Garage, Psychedelia, and Punk (2008-present) [edit]

With the new four-piece lineup established, the scope of the bands music and success started to increase. The Master's Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In was released in 2008, under the current name Thee Oh Sees. This album is also notable for being the first collaboration with Chris Woodhouse, a mix engineer and guest musician who would continue to appear on the albums that followed. The band released their album Help in 2009. This was their first album released on In the Red Records, their current label. The EP Dog Poison was also released this year, an acoustic take on the newer, more upbeat sound of the band.

Warm Slime arrived in 2010, following strongly in the footsteps of Help. The album's first side is dominated by the title track, their longest song to date, with a running time of 13:30. The song's drawn out, repetitive nature foreshadowed the krautrock influence that would later be present on their albums that would follow into the new decade.

On April 28, 2011, Patrick Mullins rejoined the band for a one-off performance at the Cafe Du Nord in their hometown of San Fransisco. The band played songs from the albums through The Master's Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In. Most these songs had not been included in the setlists for some time.

The recording of 2011's Castlemania was solely undertaken by John Dwyer and Brigid Dawson and a series of guest musicians. Petey Dammit and Mike Shoun would record on the year's latter album Carrion Crawler/The Dream along with new member Lars Finberg (from The Intelligence). Finberg joined as a full-time second drummer and second guitar player, but continues to lead and tour with The Intelligence. Dawson and Dwyer approached 2012's Putrifiers II in a similar manner as the group recorded Castlemania.

In January 2013, The band announced their newest album, Floating Coffin, would be released on April 16.

Band Philosophy [edit]

In a September 2012 interview with New York Music News, Petey Dammit explained the band's philosophy on recording: "We work hard. I think it seems strange for us to release so many records because of the tradition in the recording industry to do things a certain way. For decades it has been months and months in the studio, one release a year, tour this, tour that, do this, do that… We just do what we want to do. Most of the songs have been worked out by the time we get to the studio so we can record them all live in two days. The other two days in the studio are having fun writing on the spot and having fun."