Oh Sees

HHHH Orc CASTLE FACE. CD/DL/LP Minus ‘Thee’, the ’Frisco garage-Krautists’ outsidethe-boxing intensifies. Post-nomenclature reduction, John Dwyer’s prolific quartet appear to be releasing just this one album in 2017, wisely merging the distinct impulses on last year’s two studio outings. Opener The Static God is a hurtling psych-pop gem, ’67 Floyd for post-millennial altpunk heads, while Animated Violence doles out Melvins-y grunge. Fourth up, however, Keys To The Castle left-turns at 2:20 from regulation hi-speed nuttiness into a gorgeous six-minute drift of Rhodes piano, undulating feedback and viola drone – mind-frazzling! From there, anything can happen, and does: slinky Jettison resounds with Houses Of The Holy-era Zep riffage; Raw Optics closes out with a Can-ish funky twin-drummer deconstruction. Dwyer’s crew are oft-cited as the world’s most exciting live rock band; they’re also making some of its most exciting rock records. Andrew Perry