Thee Oh Sees‘ brand of lo-fi garage rock is one which seems like it may eventually run its course. So when they continue to output thrilling and fresh and new music which still fits within the cannon of the band, you have to hand it to them. Warm Slime is the 2010 entry of a band that continues to give and give; Thee Oh Sees have a myriad of releases since 2008 including two LP’s The Masters Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In and 2009’s Help, plus EP’s, live recordings and more. They have output releases at an alarming rate. And with Warm Slime, they may have produced their best LP yet, although the opening track duration may make you think otherwise.
Opener “Warm Slime” clocks in at a little over 13 minutes in length. Now, this is an extremely long track length for any band, but the for Thee Oh Sees it comes with a whole new level of reservation. Some of the bands best tracks (“Ghost in the Trees”; “Block Of Ice”) excel so much because they don’t out stay their welcome. Many of Thee Oh Sees best only stick around for around 2 minutes, yet it is usually 2 minutes of catch and brilliant music. They followed the same trend on 2009’s Help, yet some of their longer experiments such as “Go Meet the Seed” stretch on, and could end at least 3 minutes early.
But remarkably, when Thee Oh Sees go all out with “Warm Slime,” it’s stunning to see the results. The track never lulls, and never is boring as it shifts through a slower tempo. Yes, it’s what we’ve heard from Thee Oh Sees before but it’s length works in its favour. It’s brilliant, almost one of the best tracks they have ever done. From that point, Warm Slime starts to become considerably more conventional within the style of Thee Oh Sees. “Warm Slime” leads in to “I Was Denied” another brilliantly catchy song which is Thee Oh Sees doing what they know best. The same could be said for the rest of the album; they feel so comfortable doing what they know. The remaining five songs continue to perfect this style before the album comes to a slightly abrupt conclusion with “MT Work.”
Warm Slime is the product of a band with a lot of confidence in their style. It’s Thee Oh Sees refining their sound even more. It’s the same brand of garage rock expected from them, with a different set of short guitar hooks and one very large experiment (“Warm Slime” almost takes up half of the albums short 30 minute duration). Thee Oh Sees know what works and have perfected that, and it’s because of that they have created their best album, and one of the best of 2010.
Favourite Tracks: Warm Slime, I Was Denied, Castiatic Tackle, Mega- Feast.
Hold the Sound. 