thee-oh-sees-pic
Thee Oh Sees back in 2006

Oh Sees reissuing 2006 LP 'The Cool Deaths of Island Raiders,' touring, playing SXSW

Oh Sees are reissuing their out-of-print 2006 album, The Cool Deaths of Island Raiders, on March 18 via Castle Face. The album, credited to Ohsees, was originally released by Narnack Records and shows a gentler band from right before John Dwyer transformed the group into the awesome garage force we know now.  For the backstory here’s Castle Face’s Matt Jones:

Kicking off the record with what should have been the hit of the summer that year but for the hard C in the title, “The Gilded Cunt” seems to clearly preface Oh Sees’ later psych skewed pop sensibilities. At the time it was an obvious jam and I recall being floored by its shuffling beauty. Chirping birds, gently lapping tempos and the nascent harmonization of Brigid Dawson and Dwyer detail what I consider to be a definitive highlight of their early quiet period of the band. The tree hangs heavy with Patrick Mullins’ handiwork, manning the musical saw, drums, and an assortment of home made electronics. It seemed a bit radical to be so quiet about it but the tunes are total earworms among the assorted drones, cut up bits of tape noise, and mellow front porch vibes, and the whole thing hangs together in a lovely hand-made way, helped in no small part by Dave Sitek’s production (he would later work on Master’s Bedroom as well). “We flew Brigid out a fresh woman and literally sent her home on a plane with a trash bag of her clothes” says John. Evidently the whole record was accidentally erased at some point right around when the photo on the back of the jacket was taken, which makes it all the more remarkable that the result sounds so casually and confidently careworn.

You can listen to “We Are Free” off the reissue below.

John and the current lineup of Oh Sees will be on tour in Australia starting later this week. They’ll be back in the U.S. in time for SXSW where they’ll be playing five straight days/nights at Hotel Vegas. They’re also on tap for Atlanta’s Shaky Knees fest and have UK/EU tour dates as well. All are listed below.

The Cool Deaths of Island Raiders tracklist:
The Gilded Cunt
The Dumb Drums
Turn Offs
Losers In The Sun
Drone Number One
Island Raiders
Cool Death
Broken Stems
We Are Free
Drone Number Two
You Oughta Go Home

OH SEES – 2019 TOUR DATES
Thurs 14 Feb – The Croxton, Melbourne
Fri 15 Feb – The Croxton, Melbourne
Sat 16th Feb – The Croxton , Melbourne
Mon 18 Feb – Uni Bar, Wollongong
Tues 19 Feb – Factory Theatre, Sydney
Fri 22 Feb – Miami Marketta, Gold Coast
Sat 23 Feb – Valley Drive In, Brisbane
Sun 24 Feb – Rock Rover, Fremantle
MONDAY 3/11 9 pm Do512 Party (SXSW)
TUESDAY 3/12 11pm Hotel Vegas Party (SXSW)
WEDNESDAY 3/13 5pm Desert Daze (SXSW)
THURSDAY 3/14 6pm Levitation (SXSW)
Friday 3/15 PANACHE PARTY Outdoor Patio Stage (SXSW)
May 3 , 2019 Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Festival (with fucking tears for fears!)
18/05/19 – UK – Manchester – Albert Hall http://bit.ly/2zWFysJ
19/05/19 – UK – Glasgow – QMU http://bit.ly/2RUY9fB
20/05/19 – UK – Belfast – Limelight 18-20
21/05/19 – UK- Dublin – Button Factory http://bit.ly/2QIVxnZ
23/05/19 – UK – Cardiff – The Tramshed http://bit.ly/2EgjiNs
24/05/19 – UK – Derby – Bearded Theory Festival http://bit.ly/2zWFMjz
JUNE 14TH SOLANA BEACH , DAN DIEGO BELLY UP W BRONZE AND FUCKWOLF
23/08/19 – FR- Charleville (Cabaret Vert festival ) : https://bit.ly/2oOK8BQ
24/08/19 – FR – Guéret (Check-in Festival) : https://bit.ly/2Bn42fg
27/08/19 – IT – Ravenna hana-bi : FREE .
29/08/19 – Austria – Vienna -Arena : https://bit.ly/2t5FF1h
30/08/19 – DE- Munich -Strom : https://bit.ly/2t9nho0
31/08/19 – DE- Berlin -Kreuzberg Festsaal- : https://bit.ly/2t6DDy4
01/09/19 – BE – Brussels – les botaniques
03/09/19 – FR – Bordeaux – BT 59 .-
04/09/19 – FR- Toulouse – le bikini –
05/09/19 – FR – Paris – le bataclan
06/09/19 – UK – London – troxy – https://dice.fm/oh-sees-troxy
07/09/19 – NL – Amsterdam -paradiso-