Thee Oh Sees - Carrion Crawler / The Dream

 

Thee Oh Sees — Carrion Crawler / The Dream

Limited edition translucent pink vinyl

What's the first thing you think of when someone mentions Thee Oh Sees? Probably their riot-sparking live show, right? Visions of a guitar-chewing, melody-maiming John Dwyer careening across your cranium, rounded out by a wild-eyed wrecking crew that drives every last hook home like it's a nail in the coffin of what you thought it meant to make 21st-century rock 'n' roll? Yeah, that sounds about right. But it misses a more important point — how impossible Thee Oh Sees have been to pin down since Dwyer launched the project in the late '90s as a solo break from such sorely missed underground bands as Pink and Brown and Coachwhips. (While Dwyer still records songs on his own, Thee Oh Sees is now a five-piece featuring keyboardist / singer Brigid Dawson, guitarist Petey Dammit, drummer Mike Shoun and multi-instrumentalist / singer Lars Finberg.) That restlessness extends to everything from the towering, 13-minute title track of 2010's Warm Slime LP to the mercurial moods of 2008's The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending a Night In.

Now, 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."

1. Carrion Crawler

2. Contraption/Soul Desert

3. Robber Barons

4. Chem-Farmer

5. Opposition

6. The Dream

7. Wrong Idea

8. Crushed Grass

9. Crack In Your Eye

10. Heavy Doctor

Customer Reviews (5.00 Stars) 1 person(s) rated this product.

A Psych Ride, Dream of an album. Hold on! posted on 03/10/2025 5 Stars Reviewer: MP Man oh man, this album is electrifying! From the driving basslines to the kaleidoscopic guitars, the album's adventurous ride will keep you engaged, and its impact was undeniable in shaping the modern psych-rock and garage scenes of the 2010s. It not only marked a key moment in the band's evolution but also in my life in the early 2010s in Southern California. If you like raw energy, elements of psychedelia and just organized chaos, this LP has got it. It's a sound that feels both modern, vintage AND innovative in a weird way. I remember the first time listening to it, drug free of course ( you won't need any with this album), an exhilarating ride through twisted guitar riffs, dynamic rhythms, and then John Dwyer's distinctive howling vocals... It was a breath of fresh air in a music scene already rife with retro influences, and Carrion Crawler/The Dream cemented Thee Oh Sees as one of the most exciting and innovative bands of their era (along with Ty Segal

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