Osees, the ever-evolving, name-changing(see Thee Oh Sees, Oh Sees, The Osees, etc…) project of multi-instrumentalist and garage rock Grandmaster John Dwyer has been a staple in psych/garage/punk/noise rock community for two decades. Starting the project in 1997 as a freak folk band, Dwyer’s band morphed and evolved until 2007s The Master’s Bedroom Is Worth Spending The Night In, which saw new drummer Mike Shoun add the frenetic garage sound the band would settle into.
Each album evolves while still staying true to Dwyer’s mission to make caffeinated garage/psych that dabbles in everything from Krautrock to new wave to electronic music. John Dwyer is like the grandfather of modern psych/garage, opening the door for cats like Ty Segall, Jay Reatard, and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.
On the band’s latest album titled Intercepted Message, Dwyer and his band of Merry Pranksters keep to the blueprint, adding more skronky buzzes, electronic bleeps, and give us equal parts catchy hooks and acid-tinged freakouts.
Intercepted Message is the perfect melding of John Dwyer’s music proclivities; big guitars, big drums, wonky synths, all put through a filter of Mothers Of Invention, Captain Beefheart, Pere Ubu, and Nuggets-era psych. Opener “Stunner” buzzes with new wave synth touches and Dwyer’s militant punk rock bark, as if The Cars and Mission Of Burma formed a Dixie Dregs cover band. “Blank Chems” ups the synth vibes with a groove-heavy rocker that sounds part Cheap Trick part PiL. “Intercepted Message” goes full Vapors with a “Turning Japanese” flavor.
Most of Intercepted Message keeps things short and sweet with tracks like “Chaos Heart”, “Goon” and “Submerged Building” keeping things under 3 minutes. The one exception is the synth-heavy “Always At Night” which runs over 7 minutes. The slow burn ballad wavers in 80s electro melancholy with Dwyer crooning like Bryan Ferry over something closer to Ultravox than U.K. Subs.
John Dwyer continues to move Osees into new, wild directions while staying true to the band’s mission statement. That mission statement is “don’t repeat yourself, but don’t forget where you came from.” Intercepted Message does both, and then some.
Discover more from Complex Distractions
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
