Tuesday 13 August 2013

Thee Oh Sees: Madness in a Man

The last time I properly listened to Thee Oh Sees was an exert from a live dvd. The song was If I Had a Reason, a jaunty plucking of guitars drenched with a melancholy cooing of bluesy vocals from John Dwyer and Brigid Dawson. I then went to witness them live with my girlfriend in Poland. Now you're probably thinking, why have you mentioned your girlfriend? For it is nothing short of necessary in the next part of the anecdote my dear friends. So in my mind I thought I had Thee Oh Sees pegged, and using the information I remembered from the If I Had a Reason song I continued to inform my girlfriend that they are a 'chilled out' folk band with occasional garage rock tendencies (see - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl4sSk6upsY).

How wrong was I? Very. Those occasional garage rock tendencies turned out to be an hour long set that left the wooden floorboards underneath the crowd bouncing more impressively than an effort from the Dam Busters. 

A band formed out of lead man Dwyer's desire to start his own solo effort, after numerous underground band outings, Thee Oh Sees are the archetypal live band. Stood on stage were 3 men, Dwyer on vocals and guitar, Dammit on guitar (although a lot of the time he was playing low notes to add bass to certain songs) and the metronome Shoun on drums. To the left was Dwyer's right-hand lady Dawson adding keyboards, tambourine and backup vocals for the melodies. Melodies I may add that Dawson is credited for helping Dwyer with when songwriting, and rightly so! Her whimsical vocals acting as the bands sweet to their catchy sour noise on stage. However, it isn't just the noise they create that makes them so damn good live. It's also how tight they are as a unit AND they're ability to play within this tight, note perfect take on their songs. To watch Dwyer and Dammit for a moment each song (before going back to a standard head bang position) is like watching the audiences reaction mirrored in their performance. Dwyer spits out beer, pulls faces, turns his guitar in to a rifle and bobs his head like there's literally a screw loose. Dammit on the other hand is twirling his head to the rhythm of his own guitar and to say he was in his own little world would be an understatement. The audience reciprocated with buoyed energy.

There is also no ego on stage. This isn't Dwyer & Thee Oh Sees, it's just Thee Oh Sees. Shoun's drum kit is plonked smack in the middle of the stage, to let us know who anchors the band's songs, while the others are in close proximity around him. They're a family of a band, Dwyer's the drunk uncle, Shoun's the conservative father, Dammit's the spaced out teen and Dawson's the caring mum. In any home this would equate a dysfunctional (yet normal) family however in Thee Oh Sees world this has created a family that sits down to thanksgiving dinner, rocks out and throws shapes! These guys definitely aren't dysfunctional. They're in sync. 

Of the bands highlights, material from the new album, Floating Coffin, comes songs Toe Cutter - Thumb Buster and I Come From the Mountain. As well as older material, The Dream, Block of Ice and Contraption/Soul Desert. Each of these songs was played with an unbridled energy that set the crowd's feet on fire, explaining why the floorboards were moving like a House of Pain single. If you haven't heard any of their songs I recommend the above, via Youtube, to kick you off. 

Let me end by putting it this way. If you like your band sprinkled with nuts like the world's largest sundae then Thee Oh Sees are your chocolate cookie crunch flavoured treat to jump about to. Just be careful, chocolate cookie crunch is really hard to get out. Just like Thee Oh Sees will be hard to get out of your head. 


Toe Cutter - Thumb Buster video:


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