Album Assessment: Oh Sees Push Experimental Tendencies to New Heights on Face Stabber
The Lowdown: Throughout Oh Sees’ two-decade run, they’ve cemented themselves as one of the prolific artists in indie music regardless of having notoriously gone by way of quite a few title modifications over time (the band is previously often called Thee Oh Sees, The Oh Sees, The Ohsees, Orange County Sound, OCS, and Orinoka Crash Suite). The California rock outfit have modified their title virtually as often as they’ve modified their sound, and that a lot is evidenced by the extra experimental and progressive nature channeled within the quintet’s final two albums, Smote Reverser and Orc. Face Stabber, Oh Sees’s 22nd studio album, pushes these experimental tendencies even additional.
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The Good: There’s a huge smorgasbord of influences that mesh collectively so proficiently, and Oh Sees are malleable to a big selection of types. At its core, Face Stabber adheres to the types of Can and Kraftwerk, however this sound is reimagined in such an astounding approach that you just neglect Oh Sees are even a “storage rock” band. A number of the guitar riffs tackle the types of Tv (“Face Stabber”) and Skinny Lizzy (“Collectively Tomorrow”) whereas “Henchlock” locations an emphasis on jazz. “Poisoned Stones” exhibits a tasteful amalgamation between disco, funk, and no-wave, and from a purely instrumental perspective, it seems like one thing one would hear from Guerilla Toss.
(Learn: Oh Sees Break Down Face Stabber Monitor by Monitor)
Guitarist John Dwyer can be extremely versatile in his vocal performances. On “Snickersee”, he sings this pop melody in a approach that seems like Paul McCartney circa Revolver. In the meantime, “Gholu” and “Coronary heart Worm” function quick, crushing punk bangers that present Dwyer singing in what seems like an ‘80s crossover-thrash model. We might spend all day explicating attainable influences since every observe is a thick, hearty lasagna, however Face Stabber additionally has traces of DNA from the likes of Throbbing Gristle, Wendy Carlos, Silver Apples, Suicide, T. Rex, Karlheinz Stochkaussen, King Crimson, Roky Erickson, and numerous others.
The Dangerous: When you don’t have the persistence to take a seat by way of 15-20-minute songs, “Scutum & Scorpius” and “Henchlock” will dampen the listening expertise. When you do have the persistence, that may be examined. Whereas the instrumentals are nothing wanting spectacular, they lose their momentum fairly quick, and at sure factors, you end up counting down the time that’s remaining so you may transfer on to the following observe. We are able to’t think about that’s what the band wished.
The Verdict: There are some tenured artists whose greatest work is actually behind them, then there are Oh Sees.
Upon listening to this album, some could be compelled to position a gulf between the storage rock Oh Sees and the avant-garde Oh Sees, however that demarcation cheapens the incremental development the band have made over time. Face Stabber stands as arguably Oh Sees’ most mature and nuanced work thus far, and as evidenced by this album, the band is using a steep, upward trajectory that has continued for an astonishing time frame. Even when this album’s successor causes that curve to take a nosedive, this file nonetheless signifies a lofty peak that few artists are able to reaching, and very like reaching the highest of a mountain, Face Stabber is a formidable achievement.
Important Tracks: “Face Stabber”, “Gholu”, and “Poisoned Stones”
