The first thing one must do with a record by Oh Sees (or its multiple derivatives) is check whether or not it is an official John Dwyer project. The suspicion remains that the man himself may have lost track of the number of incarnations that this band has taken over the past 20 years or so.
So, via OCS (Orinoka Crash Suite, Orange County Sound?), The Oh Sees and Thee Oh Sees we finally arrive at this record. It’s the first as Oh Sees, but the 19th in 14 years as a common entity. Dwyer, in case you were wondering, has already announced a return to the OCS name for album 20.
But that’s a story for another day. ‘Orc’ has been described as “more evil, more complex, more narcotic, more screech, more roar, more whisper…”. Not going to argue with that.
Neither will there be any complaints from these parts about the fact that there are two drummers present. Ryan Moutinho has gone, with Paul Quattrone joining Dan Rincon on the skins. Tim Hellman remains on bass duties and Dwyer, as always, is well and truly up front.
There aren’t many bands out there capable of fully capturing their live persona on record, but Oh Sees try their damnedest on ‘Orc’. Right from the off the fuzzy guitars, thumping, elastic bass and Dwyer’s trademark yelps are all present on The Static God.
It sets the album off at a blistering pace that doesn’t really slacken until Keys to the Castle, an eight minute epic that starts off all guns blazing but settles down to a lengthy psych outro, allowing you to take stock of precisely what has just melted your face.
The organ-led Cadaver Dog is as menacing a song as you could wish for, bounding its way into prog territory with Dwyer’s cries replaced by a derisive snarl. A brace of instrumentals - Paranoise and Cooling Tower - are a sudden sidestep from the psychedelic focus of the record, though.
The former features some math-rock finger-picking and is as close to a dance song as Oh Sees have come in a long while. The latter is harder to describe. Let’s say it’s an example of what would happen if Stereolab elbowed Dwyer aside for a few minutes.
Where the opening of the record was unmistakably Oh Sees, the closing duo, Drowned Beast and Raw Optics, are a little more disjointed and showcase the double drummer setup most clearly. But Oh Sees albums tend not to stick to any particular structure, and that is why they work so well.
This fresh injection of new blood has come at the best time for Dwyer and, while this record doesn’t reach the dizzying heights of 2013’s ‘Floating Coffin’, it’s a tantalising taste of what will come in the very near future.
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