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Despite using what is probably the only word I still find offensive that isn't a racial slur, opener "The Guilded Cunt" is the catchiest song I've heard all year. The song's been rattling around in my brain for weeks. It's the only song I've been subconsciously humming even though I've recently come into some fantastic records. It's lead-off line of "Hey there, waterfall" has led me to call virtually everyone I know "Waterfall" at some point or another. The song simply won't leave me. Thank Baby Jesus that the majority of The OhSees' (formerly OCS [formerly Orinoka Crash Suite]) fifth album (or fourth depending on how you view the joint release of 3 & 4) The Cool Death of Island Raiders (also known as 5) is just as mindburrowing. The OhSees are primarly John Dwyer, formerly of the spastic Coachwhips, the intensely noisy Pink & Brown, the garage-dwelling Hospitals, the arty metalheads Dig That Body Up It's Alive, and, my personal favorite, the quasi-gay techno group Zeigenbok Kopf. Dwyer is obviously a prolific and multi-layered being. The OhSees finds Dwyer in a folky twee vein, affecting yet again a unique vocal style: This time he could pass as a Muppet. But, like, you know, a badass Muppet. The songs are simple and all structured (save the two drone tracks that I'll get to later) around Dwyer's vocals and guitar, on which he never strums more than a handful of chords. The instruments and noises backing Dwyer are what set them apart: The drums and ringing cymbals of "The Dumb Drums," the birdsongs of "Losers In The Sun," the saxophone and flute of "Island Raiders," and the jingling, pounding conclusion of "We Are Free." The simplicity of the guitar, drum patterns, and recording equipment makes the cores of these songs sound like you could easily hear them wandering the Depression-era South. Upon first listen, the inclusion of two drone tracks stands out. Appropriately titled "Drone One" and "Drone Two," the tracks take up very nearly a third of the short album's running time. The tracks are certainly well-executed and interesting and present two distinctly different types of drone but they seem at odds, stylistically, with the rest of the album. However, the echo-y and fuzzy album is certainly something dreamy and the two tracks mark the end of the album's respective halves by letting them seep into you while you're ushered off into a trance (though there is a poppy epilogue). Happily enough, Dwyer's album is just that: an album. It's enjoyable from start to finish and likely one of the strangest and most endearing things you'll encounter in an age. Another awe-inspirining effort. Here's to 6.

The OhSees at Amazon & Insound