You can’t stop Thee Oh Sees’ John Dwyer – the man’s a fucking machine. And this is none of your crappy Ikea cast-off machines that cost $20, work a few times and then die in the arse with ne’er an electronic whimper nor a warranty in sight – this is serious shit, the type of machine that sits in the corner of the room churning some serious shit out like there’s no tomorrow, makes a bunch of freakish noises and generally reminds us all that the industrial revolution gave the world a lot more than Marx and Engels would have had us believe.
But be that as it may. Floating Coffin is yet more Thee Oh Sees goodness. Take, as a case in point, the opening track, I Come From A Mountain. The car pulls up and you’re shoved in, and the journey starts. It hurtles down the highway at a 100kph, with Dwyer the manic driver. Things could go anywhere, but you know it’s going to be good. And it is: there’s surf, there’s sun, there’s freaky melodies, there’s danger, there’s unbridled excitement. Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster is ethereal, almost ghostly – what’s going on here? The Floating Coffin is mid-way between the two preceding tracks, a sort of gothic take on the ’60s psychedelic garage experience. No Spell is spellbinding, an acid-inspired wander in the country fields in a state of cognitive enlightenment where rock’n’roll is the way, the truth and the light.
On Strawberries 1 + 2 – what the fuck is that? – Thee Oh Sees get down and serious dirty, and your head could just explode, and what a delicious end that would be. Maze Fancier is funky, in a drug-freaked, George Clinton meets Arthur Lee sort of a way; Night Crawler does your head in like that time you watched Evil Dead with a head full of MDMA, or was it horse tranquiliser? You can put Sweets Helicopter on at any party and people would just need to start dancing; offer up Tunnel Time, and even the local accountancy group will be locked in the groove. And then see what happens with the post-Ricky Nelson meets Pixies pop of Minotaur – maybe it’ll be the revolution we all want to happen. There’s nothing wrong with this record. Absolutely nothing.
BY PATRICK EMERY
Best Track: I Come From A Mountain
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS, BLACK LIPS, CHOCOLATE WATCH BAND
In A Word: Dirtypsychedelicgarage
