Send "Thee Oh Sees " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Here's what Thee Oh Sees have given the world in 2009 to date: six singles (three of their own, three split with pals), one demo collection, and, oh yeah, two LPs. (There are six weeks left on the calendar, which might give them time to cut a few more tracks and maybe record and release a couple dozen live sets.) This flurry of activity comes on the heels of a comparatively sedate 2008, which saw the group push out one measly studio full-length, one LP of the live persuasion, one and a half EPs, and just the one single. Suffice it to say that whatever caffeine-laced tall boys and/or illicit recreational substances John Dwyer has been (ab)using since adding an extra E to his band's name, they are most definitely working. Thee Oh Sees' Nuggets-friendly aesthetic could very easily wear itself thin, but Dwyer and friends have found plenty of ways to keep that formula from falling flat.The group's first full-length offering this year, Help, is the apotheosis of what Thee Oh Sees can do as a rock group-- namely, kick out jams that pack a thick and brutal punch while offering a softer, poppier, and not-so-mildly psychedelic side at the same time. If the group rolled their joints on the sleeve of a first-edition copy of Black Monk Time, and took slugs of moonshine from the 13th Floor Elevators' electric jug (unplugged, of course), it wouldn't come as a surprise. And while they couldn't be blamed if they simply opted to offer more Help on their second 2009 LP, it's to their credit that they upset that particular apple cart, among many others, on Dog Poison....full text |
| Prefixmag |
| Garage rock -- that kaleidoscopic subgenre of rock 'n' roll, born from the eager simplicity of “Louie Louie” -- has had remarkable staying power. Its popularity has ebbed and flowed over five decades, but a new generation has always been there to claim its scrappy banner. In 2009, we’ve seen a resurgence (or, more accurately, another peak in the cycle) of this lo-fi sound, where artists have embraced its Luddite-inspired ethos of tape hiss, muddled vocals, and even muddier music. The good thing about garage rock is anybody can make this music, actual recording studios be damned. The bad thing is literally anybody can make this music, actual talent be damned. You can put San Francisco’s Thee Oh Sees in the former column: They are a good thing in this often-crowded subgenre, rising above the pack with memorable songwriting, dead-on harmonies, and instrumentation other than your standard guitar/bass/drums setup. Their backstory resembles their cluttered sound; it’s full of lineup changes, name changes (OCS to the Ohsees to Thee Oh Sees), and a myriad number of singles, splits, EPs, and LPs spread out over several record labels. Their evolving sound and longevity (forming in 1997) have made them something resembling garage-rock elder statesmen, and they’ve already had a good year so far with the release of their stellar eighth full-length, Help, back in April. With the band's noted productivity, Dog Poison could appear tossed-off, especially considering that its 10 songs skip by faster than those of most EPs. Yet this is a toss-off that many likeminded bands would kill to have in their discography. ...full text |
| Blogspot |
| After only a few months after the release of their album Help, Thee Oh Sees decide they want us to hear more reverberated garage rock/folk. Though the songs are well written, it feels like an unexpected visit that we really didn't need. By that I mean that the release of this album just feels a bit forced, almost as if John Dwyer just got really bored, decided not to read the fan mail demanding him to get Pink and Brown back together and just felt the need to make another album with Thee Oh Sees. We begin Dog Poison with "The River Rushes (To Screw MD Over)" and it's an ongoing and sort of repetitive song that sounds pretty much like an abundance of their other songs. Afterwards, nothing really grabbed my attention until the song "Sugar Boat" began and even then it sounded like what they've done in the past, but compared to the first three songs, this seems more catchy and upbeat. Later on: "I Can't Pay You To Disappear"; again it sounds like something Thee Oh Sees, or even Ty Segall this time would've done. "Dead Energy" is where the idea that John Dwyer dropped his songwriting skills becomes even more apparent. Half of the song consists of the lyrics "oh oh oh oh oh oh oh" repeated over and over again. Dog Poison grabs the listener's ear for about the second or third and final time with the song "It's Nearly Over" (I don't think they're taking the album very seriously anymore) and it's very soft, mellow, and slightly gloomy in comparison to the rest of the album. It's very reminiscent of some of the songs that were on Sucks Blood. Oh wait, that was The Oh Sees. My bad....full text |
Thee Oh Sees lyrics
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