THEE OH SEES

FLOATING COFFIN (Castle Face Records)

15/20

John Dwyer is one of garage rock, if not music in general’s, most enduringly fascinating figures. Since the late 90s he has been flooding the market with output from no less than 12 bands, and he’s released 13 albums under various incarnations of Thee Oh Sees alone. Floating Coffin, the band’s latest effort, is a joyful racket of guitar pounding rock ‘n’ roll. It’s full of the usual psychedelic energy and fuzz flirtation but, as is the norm with Dwyer, somehow comes across as something entirely different from all of his previous output. Early on we enjoy a bit of pop psych in the form of Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster, while minutes later Strawberries 1 + 2 takes us on a full-on drone trip through territory not dissimilar to the smoke- hazed sound of stoner metal. Floating Coffin is another departure for Thee Oh Sees, as well as a safe bet. With such a prolific rate of output it would be far too easy to proclaim new material as somewhat pointless, dismissed as just another record. Well Floating Coffin is just another record, but it’s a damn fine one.

– – – – – – – – – –

Words: Billy Black