OCTOBER 2019 • UNCUT• 23
SLEEVENOTES
1 The Daily Heavy
2 The Experimenter
3 Face Stabber
4 Snickersnee
5 Fu Xi
6 Scutum &
Scorpius
7 Gholü
8 Poisoned Stones
9 Psy-Ops Dispatch
10 S.S. Luker’s
Mom
11 Heart Worm
12 Together
Tomorrow
13 Captain Loosely
14 HenchlockRecorded by: Eric
Bauer, Enrique
Tena Pendilla,
Mario Ramirez
and John Dwyer
Recorded at:
The Sonic Ranch,
El Paso, Texas
Personnel: John
Dwyer (guitar,
vocals, electronics,
synthesisers,
percussion, sax,
samples, Mellotron,
field recording,
moisturiser, effects),
Tim Hellman
(bass, percussion),
Thomas
Dolas (organ,
synthesizers,
Mellotron,
percussion), Dan
Rincon (drums,
percussion), Paul
Quattrone (drums),
Suerena Brigid
Dawson (vocals,
proper cuppa),
Brad Caulkins
(alto and tenor
saxophone),
Mario Ramirez
(percussion),
Enrique Padilla
Tena (percussion),
Eric Bauer
(percussion)yet effective form of transcendence. The
album’s 13-minute centrepiece, “Scutum
& Scorpious”, is more of a speed demon
type. It opens with a burbling stream of
Tomita-worthy synths before Dwyer fully
indulges his love for the sort of Euro-prog
heaviosity rarely attempted since Magma
and Kedama first stomped the Earth. Yet
like “The Experimenter” and “Fu Xi”
elsewhere on the album, the track also
betrays an equally ardent affection for
the squelchy sideways funk of jazz-fusion
giants like Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters
and Mahavishnu Orchestra. Dwyer may
already have made his jazz predilections
clear in his duelling-saxes side-project
Sword + Sandals, but Face Stabber
constitutes these elements’ deepest
incursion into Oh Sees proper with
thrilling results.
They’re certainly front and centre in
the swaggering opening stretch of the
21-minute “Henchlock”. While Dwyer’s
guitar shredding may ultimately win the
battle for supremacy with the Hancock-
style keyboard figures, the squalling
saxes of Dwyer and Brad Caulkins,
and Tim Hellman’s burly bass lines, the
piece as a whole is as sophisticated as
anything the Oh Sees have recorded,
which is not to suggest it’s any less
berserk. And weird, too, especially once
Dwyer trots out his best Viv Stanshall
around the 15-minute mark and declares,
“Where is that cup of tea?/We all want cups
of tea while we sit around...”
His cryptic call for a cuppa is all the
more jarring given the general scarcity
of Dwyer’s vocals on Face Stabber. That
apparent reticence may have less to do
with the shift towards heavy-duty jazz
jams or the Can-meets-the-Trashmen
freewheeling of “The Daily Heavy”
than with his drive to keep the album’s
full-throttle garage-punk stompers –
“Gholü”, “Heart Worm” and the Locust-
like “Together Tomorrow” – so ruthlessly
compact. Then again, flux is the sole
constant in Dwyer’s world, and only Face
Stabber’s “Poisoned Stones” and “Psy-
Ops Dispatch” bears any particularly close
resemblance to the burly stoner-rock and
classic-minded psych that were the Oh
Sees’ forte a mere three years ago.
Whatever comes next for Dwyer and his
Oh Sees will very likely be even wilder than
Face Stabber. Of course, the wisest thing to
do is savour all the strangeness, the power
and the glory that fill the present.John Dwyer:
“You never get bored
when you are exploring”
Face Stabber feels like
another brave leap in another
direction. How much does
each new Oh Sees album
tend to be a reaction to
the previous one?
All the albums have a common
thread from the previous ones – it’s
unavoidable. We aren’t really a
“concept record” type band, so we
usually go in with no preconceived
notions - although, when we have
done in the past, it never ends up
where we expected, so no matter
in the end.
The firstsoundonFace
Stabber appears to be a
squeeze toy. Are you stoked
to have potentially discovered
a new percussion instrument?
And are there any other
sounds here that were
new to you?
My pet Dog Buddy was with us, so it
just kinda happened – it’s a reminder
not to take yourself too seriously. We
also used a lot of affected sax that’s
sort of buried throughout the record.
Anytime you catch yourself thinking,
“What the fuck is that sound?” that’s
a good thing.Your love of jazz-fusion
heavyweights likeHeadhunters and Mahavishnu
Orchestra is more pronounced
here. How did it feel to dive
further into that sound?
Those bands are all heavy influences
on our writing, or mine at least. I
guess I’ve graduated to full-blown
nerd here, but improvisation and
blending of styles in this respect is
very appealing to my ears. I wish to
grow more in this direction but can
never let go of dismal punk and heavy
noise, so I guess I’ll just see what
happens. To be able to write from
this outside and sideways direction
keeps the wolves from the door, as it
were – you never get bored when you
are exploring.
INTERVIEW: JASON ANDERSONQ&A
!!!
Wallop
WARP
6/10
Eighthoutingfordance-punkcrew
morepronounceablyknownas
chkchkchk
TheNewYorkband’s
eighthfull-length
servingofsnarky
humourandleft-field
dancefloorfare,
Wallopmarks 23
yearsofactivityfor!!!,a longenough
periodfortheirmoresuccessful
dance-punkkinLCDSoundsystem
toform,retireandreunitea fewtimes
over.Despiteallthattime“working
inobscurity”(astheyquipin“Serbia
Drums”),they’velostlittleofthe
exuberancethatdistinguishedtheir
2003 masterstroke“MeAndGiuliani
DownByTheSchoolyard”.Alas,
genuinelysurprisingmomentsare
scarceronmuchofWallop,with
rudimentaryworkoutsoutnumbering
thefresherlikesof“$50Million”and
itssuper-chargedChicgroove.
JASONANDERSONANGELINA
LastCigarette
WONDERFULSOUND
7/10
Secondalbumfrombluesy
IsleOfWighttroubadour
Thisrootsy
croonerfromRyde
charmedfolkon
themainland
withher 2016 debut,
VagabondHeart,
butonthisfollow-up,moresand
hasgotintothemixingdeskon
thesplendidlyabrasive“Throw
PetrolAtTheSun”,whoseflute
accompanimentsuggestsJanis
Joplin’svengefulghostjamming
withCannedHeat.“Life’san
over flow ingasht ray,” shesnarls,
andthere’sa satisfyinglyswampy
twangfuellingthevampishdrawl
of“SeeThroughDress”.Thesongs
withinaresometimesoutshoneby
thestylishvintagedressing,buton
thestomping“GodBlessTheRoad”
shesoundsdeterminedtoplough
onregardless,growlinghardand
takingnoprisoners.
JOHNNYSHARPAtoZ
Thismonth...
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