In The Red Recordings – 222
Thee Oh Sees chase the home-brewed symphonies of Castlemania with the
scrappy, high-wire hooks of Carrion Crawler / The Dream. Originally
envisioned as two EPs, it was cut live to tape in less than a week at
Chris Woodhouse’s Sacramento studio in June, reflecting the
battering-ram bent of the band’s live show better than any bootleg ever
could. “As I’m sure most would agree,” explains Dwyer, “Castlemania was
more of a vocal tirade. This one’s meant to pummel and throb.” That it
does, whether one blasts the slow, speaker-bruising build of “The
Dream,” the sunburnt organs and dovetailing guitars of “Crack in Your
Eye” or the interstellar instrumental “Chem-Farmer,” a perfect example
of what happens when one takes a well-oiled machine—a gang of rabid road
warriors, really—and adds a second, groove-locked drum set to the mix.
To listen is to realize that Dwyer’s music is as manic as the
underground comic inclinations of his artwork; colorful and confusing in
a way that’s more than welcome. It’s downright refreshing, like a slap
in the face at 5:00 in the morning. Or, as Dwyer puts it, “You have to
leave a mark somehow.
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