Putrifiers II

If the sheer enormity of Thee Oh Sees' dense discography has proven too forbidding for you to delve into, Putrifiers II is a convenient summary/gateway, opening with a killer shot of the band's patented echo-drenched fuzz-punk delirium ("Wax Face") and closing with a baroque, string-swept lullaby ("Wicked Park"), while traversing all points in between.

A worthy addition to Thee Oh Sees' growing canon, and an agreeable starting point for those who want to hear the band's woolly take on psychedelic sounds infused with a dollop of pop.

Number 14 sees them rejigged as a quintet, allowing their reverb-drenched sounds to spread where they will. [Oct 2012, p.87]

The results are sporadic and schizophrenic, in the sense that it's hard to pinpoint a solid foundation within the album, and easy to get lost in its infectious melodies.

Putrifiers II is clearly a collaborative effort, and all the more delightful as a result.

If it sounds like Thee Oh Sees have matured, you'd be right.

Every track presents a new side of the band in quick succession, like pushing a magic Scan button on a radio and finding a paradoxically coherent choppiness.

The music here never has too clear of an antecedent, and the directions the album takes are generally unexpected-unsurprising for a band with such fondness for the unusual.

An exceptional piece of psychedelic garage rock that never stays in the same place yet manages to still feel consistent as a whole, making this album a true standout amongst Thee Oh Sees' vast discography.

Putrifiers II finds a compelling bridge between the two poles [the breezy, lo-fi records Dwyer makes on his own and the heavier, more propulsive ones he makes with the full band] - ironically by being a remarkably wide-ranging effort. [No.91 p.59]

It's a summer album released just too late, but should do a stellar job of carrying some heat over into the colder months. Most importantly, it's yet another case in the argument to trust Thee Oh Sees with whatever sounds capture their interest.

I think of this band as one of the most consistently interesting musical projects of the last ten years, and this new material hasn't proven me otherwise.

A bit less slapdash punk and more laid-back vintage California sound, it feels like the wooziest acid-fueled daydreams of Brian Wilson.

Putrifiers II stands as the moment in the bands discography where they break free of any and all restrictions and leave the door wide open for any subsequent releases.