I've seen hundreds upon hundreds of rock 'n' roll shows: legacy acts in stadiums, road-doggin' indie artists in rock clubs, young punk bands in basements. Some performances I count among my favorites because of the artist in question's particular body of work: Paul McCartney at Bonnaroo 2013, for instance, or Beck's recent return to the Ryman. Other shows make the short list due to experiential circumstances: Canadian hardcore punks Fucked Up ripping through a Bahaman Señor Frog's as part of the 2012 Bruise Cruise, or the double-header of Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds taking over Stubb's BBQ at SXSW 2013.
But of all the countless artists I've watched perform, from the glorious to the god-awful, there is one band that unequivocally slays audiences with the most consistently enthralling, electrifying performances that must be seen to be believed: Thee Oh Sees.
Each of the roughly half-dozen times I've caught the California garage-psych troupe live in as many years, frontman and modern underground-rock legend John Dwyer was joined by the same cast of players: tattooed-neck-to-toe guitarist and de facto bassist Petey Dammit, who would swivel his head like a double-time barn owl while holding down the low-end on a down-tuned Jazzmaster; keyboardist and backing vocalist Brigid Dawson, who would pound on tambourines while providing subtle but essential harmonies to Dwyer's lead vocals; and southpaw drummer Mike Shoun, whose metronomic time was upstaged only by his seemingly bottomless well of physical endurance. On a couple of occasions, the band beefed up its sound by adding second drummer Lars Finberg, who would set up next to Shoun like a mirror image and shadow his parts, adding occasional flourishes or bombastic fills. Through it all, Dwyer — a San Francisco garage-rock vet already lauded for his previous bands Pink and Brown and Coachwhips — shrieked and shredded, pushing and pulling his chest-high electric 12-string, sticking out his tongue and howling before swallowing the head of the microphone whole.
It was madness. Thrashing madness, every single time.
But in December 2013, Dwyer announced Thee Oh Sees were taking a break. Panic and dismay in the garage-rock-fan universe followed. After much online weeping and gnashing of teeth, the band assured fans that a new LP would land in 2014, and some sort of live show would follow. Dwyer relocated to Los Angeles, though none of his live bandmates joined him, and Drop landed in April.
The intoxicating live show has long been intrinsic to the proper Oh Sees experience, and one the band's never quite captured on its sprawling recorded output. The songs on Oh Sees LPs like 2011's Castlemania and 2013's Floating Coffin — though impressive and enjoyable in their searing, rubbery riffage, acid-test-freak-out-laden arrangements and buzz-saw punk attack — have always only backlit the band's wildly possessed performances. But with Drop, Dwyer is onto something different. As AllMusic's Mark Deming points out in his review of the record, Dwyer & Co. are "playing with pop songs" here. "The Lens" features strings. "King's Nose" is a baroque-pop take on space prog that's equal parts Pink Floyd and King Crimson. The Sabbath-y riff of "Penetrating Eye" is overlaid with a simple but effective "la la la" vocal hook.
But as Dwyer has expanded Thee Oh Sees' pop palate, he's pared down the band's lineup.
"The future of the band doesn't hold much keyboard," Dwyer recently told Uncut Magazine. "I want to go more guitar. I'll still record with a keyboard, but I'm burned out with it live." Indeed, his current touring lineup is a keyboardless power trio, featuring only Dwyer and a rhythm section — Nick Murray on drums and Timothy Hellman on bass. This news no doubt gives a lot of TOS die-hards pause. Who needs a new lineup when the old one was just so damn good?
Dwyer is still engaging and emphatic; the songs are still loud and relentless. If an injection of pop savvy and fresh blood is what Dwyer needed to remain engaged with Thee Oh Sees — a project that has released 13 albums in just over a decade — then perhaps fans are better off for it.
Recent performance videos capturing Thee Oh Sees' newer, leaner lineup tearing through as many or more old songs as new ones should silence skeptics, and Saturday's Exit/In show will deafen them.
Email Music@nashvillescene.com.
