Oh Sees, “Henchlock” (Castle Face)
I woke up a little after 3 am today, as is my wont. (Don’t worry; I eventually fell asleep again.) My bedside radio was tuned to KEXP and the DJ, Atticus, was playing a snaky song that made me think he was digging deep into the underground-rock scene of early-’70s Germany. A quick search showed that this epic sonic journey was not the handiwork of obscure, long-haired krautrockers such as Thirsty Moon or Ibliss, but rather that of good old American workaholic John Dwyer‘s Oh Sees. The song in question was “Henchlock,” the hyper-prolific LA band’s 21-minute “single” off their forthcoming album, Face Stabber (out August 16). Talk about an ideal bathroom-break jam…
It says a lot about Dwyer‘s confidence in his fan base’s dedication and his IDGAF attitude about college radio programmers’ attention spans that he’d kickstart the promotional machine of Face Stabber with such a long, non-commercial track. But those blessed with the will power to follow a piece of music that lasts a third of an hour will be rewarded for their patience.
“Henchlock” begins like a conventional, semi-freaky rock song, with Dwyer doing his urgent-falsetto thing (“Too much information, baby, disappears/Too much aggravation, baby, it’s a drag/Too much agitation, baby, I’m feeling low”). But a few minutes in, the bass starts to peregrinate in hypnotic spirals, Dwyer launches cantankerous guitar pyrotechnics, the gently cascading keyboards induce “Riders on the Storm”-like chills, and the two drummers carry the rhythm metronomically and intricately. For comic relief, there’s a faux-portentous bit where Dwyer intones, “Where is that cup of tea?” in the manner of Sonic Boom in Spacemen 3’s “Revolution.”
The poise and control with which Oh Sees wring subtle variations on the main theme lend “Henchlock” a bracing tension, which peaks around the 15-minute mark’s chaotic blast of bizarre timbres. The track is the aural equivalent of a suspenseful thriller movie that leaves you baffled about everyone’s motivations.
Oh Sees play Timber Music Fest in Carnation, Washington, Saturday July 13.
