Pulsing and driving psychedelic garage-rock, ‘Smote Reverser’ is the latest album by Oh Sees (fka Thee Oh Sees), with the band continuing further down the path of previous record ‘Orc’. Gentle vocals and dynamic changes keep us on our toes amongst the walls of noise which pull the listener through the record.

No-one can fault the work ethic of the San Francisco four-piece, with ‘Smote Reverser’ clocking in as their 21st-first album in as many years. The record sits comfortably with their previous tried and tested psychedelic rock jams, this time punctuated by glitchy electronic production and exceptional drumming. Dwyer continues to demonstrate their talent for creating loud crunchy guitar music whilst retaining memorable melodies and interesting vocals. However, the record falls into a similar narrative to previous Oh Sees releases and has to work hard to prove itself.

Nevertheless, the Record is a very good pysch-garage-rock LP. From the offset on opening track ‘Sentient Oona’, Dwyer’s vocals harken to the likes of Ty Segall and T-Rex; crystal clear for a change adding a narrative which nicely fills the gaps between guitar solos. ‘Enrique El Cobrador’ is delicately ornamented with Hammond organ sounds by Tom Dolas giving it a feel somewhere between garage-rock and jazz-fusion. With layered vocals, organ solos, and a pulsing bassline, it is easy to get lost in the depth of the track. Next up ‘C’ sees some of the more interesting percussion on the record, dominated by a swing not always found in other tracks. Whispered vocals give a question-and-answer feel with the lead guitar. The peace of this track is swiftly lost on ‘Overthrown’, a violent and eardrum-puncturing psychedelic onslaught of guitars, drums and bass. Unforgiving and immense, the track is true Oh Sees.

‘Last Peace’ sees a welcome change of pace for the record, gently lulling us with its vocals, the track is much softer than the rest of the record until around four minutes in, suddenly erupting in pace and instrumentation, following a similar narrative to the rest of the LP. ‘Moon Bog’ is the standout track on ‘Smote Reverser’, gentle flutes and synths accompany soft vocals that precede a fuzzy guitar sound that fills up everything. ‘Anthemic Aggressor’ is up next and is a glitchy epic of psych-rock, it builds a great atmosphere throughout its thirteen minutes, and at times has a jazz-influenced improvised feel to it.

Watch ‘Anthemic Aggressor’ by Oh Sees:

Some of the more innovative tracks come later in the record. ‘Nail House Needle Boys’ again sees the return of the excellent key-stabbing of Tom Dolas on the B3 organ. Complex percussion serves to introduce and carry the song toward the mesmerising guitar solos. ‘Flies Bump against the Glass’ is a slower groove compared with the onslaught of most of the record. It also shows off Dwyer’s guitar playing at its most creative, accompanied by interesting keyboard sounds, retaining the vague feeling of fantasy that punctuates a lot of psychedelic records. ‘Beat Quest’ sees the final appearance of vocals on the record, beautiful harmonies and subtle guitar melodies make the track very melancholy and introspective, harkening back to early Oh Sees material. Coming into its own halfway through, the track develops into a chaotic but beautiful synergy of sounds closing the record climatically with the hurling guitars felt throughout.

‘Smote Reverser’ occupies a strange space; on one hand it is a reliable, very shiny, well produced and well written psychedelic rock LP in true Oh Sees fashion, whilst on the other hand it truly realises itself in the experimentation. The latter half of the record sees far more of this and is instantly more memorable. If ‘Smote Reverser’ is a move toward more experimental rock then it would be a welcome one. Dwyer and colleagues are incredibly talented musicians and show this on particular tracks but on the whole the record can feel too familiar at times. Nonetheless, ‘Smote Reverser’ is a heavy and satisfying album for fans of unrelenting garage rock.

Get ‘Smote Reverser’ by Oh Sees here: Amazon | bandcamp | iTunes