San Francisco rocker John Dwyer can’t seem to sit still. Along with touring with lo-fi trio the Coachwhips and releasing his own electronic music under pseudonym Damaged Bug, Dwyer has just released the supposedly last record—before an indefinite hiatus—of his garage rock band Thee Oh Sees.
The album is a definite change from the previous hard-hitting work of the five members of Thee Oh Sees. They’re joined on the nine-track frenzy by a few other California thrash-rockers: drummer and infamous “punk guru” Chris Woodhouse, songwriter saxophonist Mikal Cronin and The Mallard vocalist Greer McGettrick. Harmonizing vocalist and token badass chick Brigid Dawson isn’t featured nearly enough and the work of the guest artists seems to overpower the original band members, but the entire piece is a fantastic compilation of super talented artists.
Drop is a phenomenal mix of punk, electronic and psychedelic rock, with futuristic anthems such as “Penetrating Eye,” glam-garage hybrids like “Encrypted Bounce” and heavy creepers like “Savage Victory” all within seconds of each other. Some tracks throw back to ’60s era psychedelia (“Put Some Reverb on My Brother,” “The Lens”). “Transparent World” could easily have been pulled from Pink Floyd’s The Wall and the group even channels classic British rock to the point of jest on “King’s Nose.” Others are ’80s punk inspired (“Drop”) and there’s even some ’90s grunge angst thrown into the mix (“Camera (Queer Sound)”).
The lack of genre or era definition on Drop is what makes the album really interesting; it’s almost like this group of artists are performing sketch comedy with music, but instead of being ironically bad, the tracks mold together for an amazing piece. Thee Oh Sees and Drop puts to rest the accusation that all skate/punk/garage rock today sounds the same, giving a glimmer of the future of West Coast rock.
Rating: B+
