Thee Oh Sees are back with their latest release titled Mutilator Defeated At Last, the band’s fourteenth studio release in about as many years. The San Francisco-based psychedelic, garage rock group has been up to the same thing since 1997, touring relentlessly and recording records.
The new album brings familiar sounds Thee Oh Sees’ fans love with washed out, whaling guitar tracks like “Lupine Ossuary” that exhibit four minutes or so calculated madness. Mutilator Defeated At Last also gives the listener remarkable classic rock flashbacks with tracks like “Poor Queen” where the voice of frontman John Dwyer transforms to Geddy Lee of Rush, or “Turned Out Light” that screams Zeppelin.
The guys are at their best on the track “Sticky Hulks” that partners mellow, melodic keyboard sections with bright, reverberated guitar and Dwyer’s voice, instead, droning at a more casual pace. The records finishes with “Palace Doctor” that has the swaying, loose-knit bass groove and ethereal vocals you would expect to hear on a Radiohead record.
Mutilator Defeated At Last is yet another fantastic release from the California psych-rockers. Fans of Thee Oh Sees can realistically expect more and more tours with solid albums on a consistent basis.
Recommended If You Like: Tame Impala, Ty Segall, Spaceface
Recommended Tracks: 6 (Sticky Hulks), 1 (Web), 4 (Turned Out Light), 5 (Lupine Ossuary)
Do Not Play: None
Written by Harrison Hipp 06/26/15