Thee Oh Sees (to put a hyped-up band in perspective)

by j bux

i'll be completely honest here. i often write off a band that i might actually like i might actually like based on admittedly-shallow principles. however, in this case, i feel i am completely justified.

when you hop on the two-man noise band train late in the game like this:

and are at any point involved in a project like this:

and then follow up with crapola like this:

there is NO POSSIBLE WAY to maintain any
sort of credibility.

i'll be honest, when i was a kid (15 or
16 years old, i'm, like, totally way
more mature now,) i really liked Hella
and Lightning Bolt and all those other
two-man rock-set-up style noisier rock
bands. Load Records was pretty good
about keep those types of bands on their
label for a while and i was really into
it for a while. Pink and Brown were
buddies w/ Lightning Bolt and it was not
illogical for John Dwyer to do that style
of project because it seemed like most
artists in the Providence, RI / Fort
Thunder scene were doing that type of
shit. i was really into it and thought
they were cool. after Dwyer made a cameo
in "The Power of Salad and Milkshakes"
(a Lightning Bolt tour documentary,) i
became a little skeptical of his sincerity
and dedication to innovation and
experimentation. can we say flavor of the
week? Dwyer's newly acquired hype reveals
the abominable truth that anyone can
write shitty pop songs, use 'weird'
effects and shitty microphones, and turn
them into a psychedelic-freak-folk trendy
cluster-fuck sensation. i guess i should
probably listen to a couple more songs...

i guess i should probably listen to a
couple more songs...