rock

Osees

2 festivals played

John Dwyer's endlessly renamed, endlessly prolific garage-psych machine — records at a pace nobody can keep up with and a live show that runs hotter than any of them.

Osees is the current name of the band led by John Dwyer, who has released music under a rotating set of variations including OCS, The Ohsees, Thee Oh Sees and Oh Sees since the late 1990s. Dwyer, previously of Coachwhips and Pink and Brown, has kept the project in near-constant motion, moving from lo-fi home recordings to full-band garage psych and, on later records, into krautrock, prog and free-jazz territory.

The music generally hinges on Dwyer's yelping vocals, treble-heavy guitar and a rhythm section that has at times featured two drummers. Live, the band plays fast and loud, with Dwyer often set up at the front edge of the stage.

rock