Thee Oh Sees "Strawberries Pt. 1 and 2" and "If I Had a Reason"


Thee Oh Sees. Oh Sees. The Ohsees. Orange County Sound, OCS. All names of the same Jonathan Dwyer fronted group. They have just recently dubbed themselves simply Oh Sees. Confusing huh? It doesn't stop at just their name. They are equally as proliferate in their music as they are changing names. They just put out their 19th full studio album. Crazy huh?

So where do you start with these guys? I'm honestly not sure. They have gone through complete band line-up changes and every album seems to veer off to another vein of their established rock psychedelia. My first exposure to them was off of their 10th full studio album "Warm Slime"; this fuzzy and sludgy song called "I Was Denied". Pretty much a dancy punk song about getting really messed up. It's still one of my favorites.

I admit they can be difficult to get into. Every album of theirs has its own home but they all exist with the staples that built the Thee Oh Sees neighborhood. The "woo"s at the end of their verses never get old. And neither does Dwyer's falsetto voice that frequents many of their songs.

Perhaps "Strawberries 1 and 2" might be a good place to start with now that I think about it. It's the best of both worlds. You get fast Thee Oh Sees. And slow Thee Oh Sees.

Ya gotta stick with it though.
 
The track starts off quick and in your face with these huge tom booms that are eventually paired with guitar blasts. The guitar picks up and things are going fast. You may be over it.

But wait. The song starts pounding like it did in the beginning. It's going somewhere else.

Everything is slooooooooooow now.

The long deep cello and guitar playing those two notes back and forth is one of the most enthralling sounds. It's just one of those absolute groovers. You gotta be listening to it loud and just let that the guitar cook. Let Dwyer guide you along in that comfortable falsetto voice he's come to conquer. If you can groove with the guitar and cello on this thing it just makes the whole ride better.


P.S. Also, while writing this I came upon a song called "If I Had a Reason" by the group I had never heard before. A much older tune. Anyways, 14 replays later and I'm still lovin' it. So I'm going to add that song too.




Thee Oh Sees

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