Osees

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Osees
Osees at Union Transfer, Fall Tour 2024.jpg
Osees performing in fall of 2024 at Union Transfer in Philadelphia
Background information
Also known asOrinoka Crash Suite (1997–2003)
OCS (2003–2005, 2017, 2023)
Orange County Sound (2005)
The Ohsees (2006)
Thee Oh Sees (2006–2017)
Oh Sees (2017–2019)
Origin San Francisco, California, U.S.
Genres
Years active1997–present
Labels
Members
  • John Dwyer
  • Tim Hellman
  • Dan Rincon
  • Paul Quattrone
  • Tomas Dolas
Past members
Website theeohsees.com

Osees is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1997, now based in Los Angeles, California. [1] Originally the solo recording project of John Dwyer, the band has evolved through numerous line-up and name changes since its founding, with Dwyer serving as the band leader and primary songwriter throughout. Alongside Dwyer, the band's current line-up includes longtime members, Tim Hellman (bass), Dan Rincon (drums), Paul Quattrone (drums) and Tomas Dolas (keyboards).

Contents

The group's sound draws from a wide variety of influences, including garage rock, krautrock, psychedelia, and folk music. Osees are noted for their prolific recording output, energetic live shows, and whimsical visual aesthetic. The group has released twenty-eight studio albums, to date, alongside various EPs, singles and compilations.

Initially a solo freak folk recording project, Dwyer evolved the project into a full garage rock band, featuring Brigid Dawson (keyboards, backing vocals), Petey Dammit (bass, guitar), Mike Shoun (drums), and Lars Finberg (drums, guitar), while releasing the acclaimed albums, The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending a Night In (2008), Carrion Crawler/The Dream (2011) and Floating Coffin (2013).

After relocating to Los Angeles in late 2013, Dwyer changed the line-up of the band, with Sic Alps bass guitarist Tim Hellman and White Fence drummer Nick Murray replacing Dawson, Dammit!, Shoun and Finberg. Following the release of the band's sixteenth studio album, Mutilator Defeated At Last (2015), Dwyer and Hellman began touring with two drummers, Dan Rincon and Ryan Moutinho, replacing Murray. Touring extensively, this line-up recorded the band's seventeenth and eighteenth studio albums, A Weird Exits and An Odd Entrances , with Moutinho departing in late 2016 to focus on his own projects. [2]

With the arrival of new drummer Paul Quattrone, the band recorded its nineteenth album, Orc , with co-producers Ty Segall, Eric Bauer and Enrique Tena. In late 2017, Dwyer reunited with Dawson for a primarily acoustic album, Memory of a Cut Off Head , which returned to the band's lo-fi roots, and featured several former and current Oh Sees members. After two studio albums featuring a heavy, progressive rock sound— Smote Reverser (2018) and Face Stabber (2019)—the band changed its name to Osees in July 2020, with the announcement of their twenty-third album, Protean Threat . The group continued to release prolifically under the new name, putting out Metamorphosed , alongside a remix album and an EP before the end of 2020. [3] [4] [5] The band's twenty-sixth album, A Foul Form , was released on August 12, 2022.

Name changes

The group habitually changes their name between releases, sometimes recording one-off albums under a different name before returning to the previous. At various times, the band has performed or released under the names Orinoka Crash Suite, OCS, Orange County Sound, The Ohsees, The Oh Sees, Thee Oh Sees, Oh Sees, and Osees. Band leader Dwyer has explained that the frequent name changes are done in opposition to the music press: "it seems to aggravate the press, which to me is great. I have nothing but contempt for the music press." [6]

This article refers to the band by its current name throughout, including in reference to events that occurred while the band operated under other names. For a chronology of the band's name changes, please see Osees discography.

History

OCS and freak folk-era (1997–2006)

John Dwyer began releasing songs on compilation albums under the name Orinoka Crash Suite as early as 1997, [7] [8] while based in San Francisco. Initially, Osees served as a solo project for Dwyer while he focused on his participation in other groups, including Pink and Brown, and Coachwhips. [9] [6]

The first two Osees albums featured Dwyer as a solo performer, featuring instrumental acoustic songs. The project expanded into a group with the addition of percussionist Patrick Mullins on Songs About Death & Dying Vol. 3 . The pair were soon joined by keyboardist and vocalist Brigid Dawson ahead of the project's fifth album, The Cool Death of Island Raiders . Regarding her addition to the band, Dwyer noted: "I met Brigid at the coffee shop Patrick [Mullins] and I used to go to when we were hungover every morning. She mentioned that she had a band too, and I was like, ‘I wanna come and see you’. She said, ‘You’re not gonna like it…’ Whenever someone says that to me it’s a challenge – so we went and it was actually really great. I realised she had a beautiful voice – and almost immediately I realised I wanted to poach her! She’s also a genuinely lovely person, so it was an easy decision." [10]

The group's first six studio albums (and other contemporary output) were recorded in a freak folk style, with lo-fi recording techniques, quiet percussion, and acoustic guitar as the lead instrument.

During this period, Dwyer founded Castle Face Records to facilitate the release of Osees records. [11]

Thee Oh Sees and garage rock-era (2007–2013)

Thee Oh Sees, Primavera 2010 Thee Oh Sees, Primavera 2010.jpg
Thee Oh Sees, Primavera 2010

The 2007 release of The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending a Night In marked a major stylistic change in the group's music towards a high-energy, garage rock style. The album was the first to feature drummer Mike Shoun on drums and guitarist Petey Dammit!, a lineup that would remain relatively stable until the band's 2013 hiatus. Notably, Dammit! performed bass parts on a standard guitar, doing a "small secret thing" to his instrument to produce a bass sound. [12] Dwyer credited Shoun's playing style as the impetus behind the band's transition to playing more energetic rock. [11]

Osees released some of their most critically acclaimed studio albums under this lineup, including Carrion Crawler/The Dream (2011) — which features live show staple "The Dream", and Floating Coffin (2013). [13] [14]

Relocation, line-up change, Oh Sees and Osees (2013–present)

Osees at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, October 2024 Osees at Union Transfer, October 2024.jpg
Osees at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, October 2024

In 2013, Dwyer announced a hiatus for Osees as he re-located to Los Angeles. [15] He soon reformed the band with a new lineup, accompanied by a shift to a heavier, garage punk sound.

The current line-up began to solidify during the recording of 2017's Orc, and was finalized by the addition of keyboardist (and occasional guitarist) Tomas Dolas during the recording of 2018's Smote Reverser . [16] Since 2017, the group's output has prominently featured the influence of krautrock, with releases and performances typically containing long, improvised, progressive jams. [6] Extended jams are featured with particular prominence on Face Stabber (2019), and Metamorphosed (2020). Some recent releases explore a particular style outside the group's usual repertoire. For example, Panther Rotate (2020) explores remixed music, [17] and A Foul Form (2022) is recorded in a hardcore punk style. [18] Since 2016, Osees recordings and performances have incorporated two drummers, which is unusual in rock music.[ citation needed ]

Dwyer continues to occasionally collaborate with ex-bandmember Dawson on Osees releases, most notably on the 2017 release Memory of a Cut Off Head , a one-off return to the band's original freak folk style.

Philosophy

Osees' recording output is notably prolific, so much that it has been parodied in the music press. [19] In a September 2012 interview with New York Music News, Petey Dammit explained the band's philosophy on recording: [20]

We work hard. I think it seems strange for us to release so many records because of the tradition in the recording industry to do things a certain way. For decades it has been months and months in the studio, one release a year, tour this, tour that, do this, do that ... We just do what we want to do. Most of the songs have been worked out by the time we get to the studio so we can record them all live in two days. The other two days in the studio are having fun writing on the spot and having fun.

Regarding the group's tendency towards experimentation in recent years, John Dwyer explains in a 2019 interview: [21]

You don't have to make a boring record when you get old. I feel like people just sometimes lose the fire or get lazy. So we try and get noisier and harder and weirder and longer and more bloated. I just go with my gut.

Members

Timeline

Osees

Discography

Related Research Articles

<i>Thee Hounds of Foggy Notion</i> 2008 live album by Thee Oh Sees

Thee Hounds of Foggy Notion is the title of the August 25, 2008 live CD/DVD release by San Francisco-based rock band Thee Oh Sees. Recorded during their Sucks Blood era in 2007, the performances include songs from previous albums, as well as others that were unreleased at the time. Some of those that had not appeared on any album were later reworked for 2008's The Master's Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In, here performed in the more subdued psychedelic folk manner which characterized the band's sound during this period. This album was the final appearance of percussionist Patrick Mullins, who left the band after "Sucks Blood".

<i>The Masters Bedroom Is Worth Spending a Night In</i> 2008 studio album by Thee Oh Sees

The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending a Night In is the seventh studio album by San Francisco-based rock band Thee Oh Sees. The album was the first to be released under the name "Thee Oh Sees", after the band had previously been known as "OCS", "The Ohsees", and "The Oh Sees". It is their seventh studio album overall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dwyer (musician)</span> American songwriter

John Dwyer is an American multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, visual artist, and record label owner. He is best known as the founding member and primary songwriter of the garage rock band Osees, with whom he has released 23 studio albums. In addition to his work with Osees, Dwyer records solo material under the name "Damaged Bug". From 2020-2021, Dwyer released several improvisation-based records with a rotating collective of different artists, including "Bent Arcana", "Witch Egg", "Endless Garbage", "Moon Drenched" and "Gong Splat". He is also a former member of the garage rock acts Coachwhips, Pink and Brown and The Hospitals.

<i>Warm Slime</i> 2010 studio album by Thee Oh Sees

Warm Slime is the tenth studio album by American psychedelic rock band Thee Oh Sees, released on May 11, 2010. The album is the fourth to be released under the name Thee Oh Sees, and is the band's tenth studio album, overall.

<i>Castlemania</i> 2011 studio album by Thee Oh Sees

Castlemania is the eleventh studio album by the American garage rock band Thee Oh Sees, the fifth album released by the band under the name "Thee Oh Sees" and their eleventh overall. It was released on May 20, 2011, by In The Red Records. It was the first of two studio albums to be made by the band in 2011, the other being Carrion Crawler/The Dream, which was released in November. It was recorded by a skeleton lineup of John Dwyer and Brigid Dawson along with some guest musicians.

<i>Carrion Crawler/The Dream</i> 2011 studio album by Thee Oh Sees

Carrion Crawler/The Dream is the twelfth studio album by San Francisco-based garage rock band Thee Oh Sees. It was released on November 8, 2011, by In the Red Records. Despite the running time of the album being comparable or greater than most of their other full-length releases, the vinyl editions state that it is an EP.

<i>Putrifiers II</i> 2012 studio album by Thee Oh Sees

Putrifiers II is the thirteenth studio album by the American garage rock band Thee Oh Sees, released on September 11, 2012, on In The Red Records.

<i>Floating Coffin</i> 2013 studio album by Thee Oh Sees

Floating Coffin is the fourteenth studio album by the American garage rock band Thee Oh Sees, released on April 16, 2013, on Castle Face Records. The album is the band's eighth to be released under the name Thee Oh Sees, and their fourteenth studio album overall.

<i>Drop</i> (Thee Oh Sees album) 2014 studio album by Thee Oh Sees

Drop is the fifteenth studio album by American psychedelic rock band Thee Oh Sees, released on April 15, 2014 on Castle Face Records. Primarily a collaboration between core member John Dwyer and regular collaborator Chris Woodhouse, the album is the ninth to be released under the name, Thee Oh Sees.

<i>Mutilator Defeated at Last</i> 2015 studio album by Thee Oh Sees

Mutilator Defeated at Last is the sixteenth studio album by the American psychedelic rock band Thee Oh Sees, released on May 18, 2015, on Castle Face Records. The album is the tenth to be released under the name, Thee Oh Sees.

American garage rock band Osees have released twenty-seven studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, eight extended plays (EPs), thirteen singles, and thirteen music videos.

<i>Sucks Blood</i> 2007 studio album by Osees

Sucks Blood is the sixth studio album by the American garage rock band Osees, released on May 15, 2007, on Castle Face Records. The album is the band's second to be released under the name The Oh Sees, and is their final album before changing their name to Thee Oh Sees.

Petey Dammit, often stylized as Petey Dammit!, is an American guitarist and bass guitarist. He is best known as a former member of the garage rock band Thee Oh Sees, with whom he recorded six studio albums. From 2014 to 2015 he performed with the post-punk band The Intelligence.

<i>Vintage Future</i> 2015 studio album by The Intelligence

Vintage Future is the ninth studio album by the American post-punk band The Intelligence, released on September 25, 2015 on In the Red Records. The album was produced by vocalist and guitarist Lars Finberg and former guitarist Chris Woodhouse.

<i>A Weird Exits</i> 2016 studio album by Thee Oh Sees

A Weird Exits is the seventeenth studio album by American garage rock band Thee Oh Sees, released on August 12, 2016, on Castle Face Records. It is the first studio album to feature drummers Ryan Moutinho and Dan Rincon, who joined the band in 2015 to tour in support of the band's previous album, Mutilator Defeated at Last.

<i>An Odd Entrances</i> 2016 studio album by Thee Oh Sees

An Odd Entrances is the eighteenth studio album by the American garage rock band Thee Oh Sees, released on 18 November 2016 by Castle Face Records. The album was recorded during the same sessions as the band's previous album, A Weird Exits, released three months previously.

<i>Orc</i> (album) 2017 studio album by Oh Sees

Orc is the nineteenth studio album by American garage rock band Oh Sees, released on August 25, 2017, on Castle Face Records. It is the band's first studio album to be released under the name Oh Sees, after it was announced that they would be dropping Thee from their name.

<i>Protean Threat</i> 2020 studio album by Osees

Protean Threat is the twenty-third studio album by American garage rock band Osees, released on September 18, 2020, on Castle Face Records. Following the band's previous album, double LP Face Stabber, frontman John Dwyer has said that he intended for Protean Threat to be much like a punk album, shorter in length and composed primarily of short songs. It is the band's first full-length album to be released under the name Osees.

<i>Witch Egg</i> 2021 studio album by Witch Egg

Witch Egg is the debut album by Witch Egg, a side project of Osees' John Dwyer. The album was released on January 22, 2021, via Rock Is Hell Records. The lineup for the album includes Dywer, drummer Nick Murray, saxophonist Brad Caulkins, keyboardist Tom Dolas, and bassist Greg Coates. It was preceded by two singles, "Greener Pools" and "City Maggot", and was received positively by critics.

<i>Metamorphosed</i> (album) 2020 studio album by Osees

Metamorphosed is the twenty-fourth studio album by American garage rock band Osees, released on October 16, 2020, by Rock Is Hell Records. The album is a mix of songs recorded for the band's 2019 album Face Stabber as well as jam sessions recorded in Mexico during the subsequent tour. It is the second of three full-length albums released by the band in 2020.

References

  1. ↑ Pehling, Dave (September 3, 2021). "Psychedelic garage-rock heroes Osees play annual SF shows at the Chapel - CBS San Francisco". Cbsnews.com. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  2. ↑ Lindsay, Andrew. "Odd Entrances and Weird Exits: In Conversation with Thee Oh Sees' Ryan Moutinho". thereprise.org. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  3. ↑ Graves, Wren (September 18, 2020). "Oh Sees (as Osees) Announce New Album Metamorphosed, Share 'Electric War'". Consequence of Sound . Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  4. ↑ Schatz, Lake (September 23, 2020). "Oh Sees (as Osees) Announce New Remix Album Panther Rotate, Share the Origins for 'Don't Blow Your Experiment'". Consequence of Sound . Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  5. ↑ Graves, Wren (September 23, 2020). "Oh Sees (as Osees) Announce New EP Weirdo Hairdo". Consequence of Sound . Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 "The Aquarium Drunkard Interview :: OSEES' John Dwyer". Aquarium Drunkard. August 17, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Various - Unidentified Noisy Objects". Discogs. October 4, 1997. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Various - Penus Rectus". Discogs. October 4, 1997. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  9. ↑ Richards, Sam (July 6, 2022). "Osee' John Dywer: "I'm like the mythical shark that has to keep moving"". Uncut. KELSEY Media. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  10. ↑ Richards, Sam (April 5, 2019). "Oh Sees: "We're not out there to appease anyone"". Uncut.co.uk. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  11. 1 2 Goins, Cole. "Head Coach - An Interview with John Dwyer". Dusted Magazine. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  12. ↑ Henkell, Karl. "Interview: Petey Dammit of Thee Oh Sees". Everguide. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ↑ "Reviews for Carrion Crawler/The Dream by Thee Oh Sees". metacritic. Fandom. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Reviews for Floating Coffin by Thee Oh Sees". metacritic. Fandom.
  15. ↑ Breihan, Tom (December 20, 2013). "Thee Oh Sees Go On Hiatus". Stereogum. Stereogum Media. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Dan Rincon Instagram". Ghostarchive.org. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  17. ↑ Albertson, Jasmine. "John Dwyer Breaks Down Every Track on Osees' New Album Panther Rotate". KEXP. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  18. ↑ Rotter, Joshua (September 2022). "Fight or flight or … how John Dwyer of Osees stays punk". 48 Hills. San Francisco Progressive Media Center. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  19. ↑ Rumrill, Joe (September 24, 2017). "Even Newer Thee Oh Sees Album Somehow Released Before New Thee Oh Sees Album". The Hard Times. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  20. ↑ "NYMN Interview – Petey Dammit of Thee Oh Sees". nymn.com. September 12, 2012. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
  21. ↑ Albertson, Jasmine. "John Dwyer of Oh Sees on His Prolific Output, Tinnitus, and The Joys of Multiple Drummers". KEXP. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
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