In Stores Now: Castlemania by Thee Oh Sees

Illustration from King Nutcracker and Poor Reinhold by Heinrich Hoffman, 1883

I decided to check out Thee Oh Sees after having some good luck with some of the other bands in the San Francisco psych-pop scene (the Fresh and Onlys, Sonny and the Sunsets), but I don't find myself warming to Castlemania the same way. My understanding is that Thee Oh Sees started out as an experimental home-recording side-project for San Francisco musician John Dwyer (the Coachwhips were probably the band he was best known for). Gradually Thee Oh Sees turned into a full band releasing well-regarded lo-fi psych-rock albums, but this new album Castlemania is pretty much a solo album by Dwyer (credited with vocals, guitars, drums,bass, flute, trumpet, synths, etc.) It may be a return to Thee Oh Sees' roots in a way (can't be sure, not having heard any of Dwyer's early solo recordings), but it's certainly a bit less accessible than I was expecting.

Castlemania's sound is a home-recorder's kitchen-sink approach, with claustrophobia-inducing layers of sound that never quite sound like the playing of a group of musicians. Dwyer's goblinish croak of a singing voice is distinctive but not off-putting, and the album gets off to a strong start with the Kinks-ish "I Need Seed", the chant-like melody of "Corprophagist (a Bath Perhaps)", and the almost sweet-sounding "Stinking Cloud". After this promising first section, though, the album is marred by some songs that are just annoyingly cacophonous, like "Corrupted Coffin" and the album's title track. The songs with some kind of oddball appeal outnumber the just-noisy numbers, but only barely. The album ends interestingly, with three covers of '60s obscurities set apart from the rest of the album's tracks - two of these covers (songs by the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and Norma Tanega) are cool songs marred by intentionally sloppy lead vocals, but I really like their version of Big Wheel's "If I Stay Too Long" (almost as good as the version by the Creation).

A real mixed bag, I get the sense that Castlemania may not be a good entry point for getting into Thee Oh Sees - I may try one of their last few albums and see if I have better luck.

"I Need Seed" by Thee Oh Sees