The music draws you into a very individualistic march until you sit apart, and the twangs of the guitar carry you aloft. In “Web,” the first track of the album Mutilator Defeated at Last, the lyrics, “Our first trip on Saturday night, was to turn off all the lights,” place the listener into a setting of darkness, where the unknown sits before you.
The exploration of vocals and different harmonies, the break from the norm, makes this band stand apart. So, while they may be reminiscent of Foster the People, they stand apart uniquely in the world of psychedelia. They’re like Foster the People but are only on more than the usual amount of shrooms. Primal yells accompanying the melodic chaos speak to the listener’s soul, caught in a chaotic and sublime resting place.
Slow beats on the bass give you a feeling of comfort as the sweet nothings carry you adrift. But then chaos invades with a fearful approach. Darkness can be fun, too. There’s a lot of room to play. It’s a darker, more psychedelic melody than the Misfits, but they stand alongside them in the punk rock world.
It all sounds so familiar but so distinct. But I suppose that’s what makes it psychedelic. It’s like you get everything you’ve grown accustomed to receiving but in a different light or with a new perspective.
“Poor Queen” has a beachy vibe, but like everything else, there’s a psychedelic twist. The lyrics in this song are particularly psychedelic in light of the poor queen. “The people still love you,” for example, makes me question who they’re singing about. It’s an interesting thing to think about, considering the gnarly beachy vibes and the tale of the poor queen. The melody it starts with prepares the listener for a story to be told and heard.
“A teenage queen is locked up tight tonight… they cry hurray, the queen will live to see another day.” The lyrics of this song, in particular, draw me in, and it’s a captivating experience. That poor queen cried herself to sleep. So, I suppose it’s more of a tragedy.
They could be said to be something like the Black Keys but with more of a psychedelic twist. The track “Turned out Light” has a fast-paced beat that carries the uplifted heights of a party. And it all leads to marching to another beat, one that paints the perfect picture of the psychedelic world of Thee Oh Sees.
Gnarly sounds send me to a place on the coast. But then the vocals start, and an eerie vibe is cast. It all sounds so demonically fun—a good but gnarly time. And all the chaotic sounds coalesce in the gnarliest of ways.
Then, it’s time to mellow out and listen to a simpler tune with all the synthesizer beats to take you past the places Syd Barrett leads you to. Then darkness intrudes on this mellow beat.
With lyrics like “stretching on through time,” the spell is cast for a timelessness. “For all eternity” casts the spell of an eternal resting place. If this is my eternal resting place, I must worship Thee Oh Sees all the more.
What I pick up on is that there are underlying artistic endeavors that stretch beyond the easily heard and understood. It’s dark, for one thing. It’s almost as if the music is haunting. But there are also thoughts of transcendence. I suppose it’s all one big picture and flows together. Maybe this could be said in the most artistic of ways.
Then, a more folksy song is heard, and it’s simply majestic but also eerie. It all surges forward in the most psychedelic of ways but also stays grounded. There are no vocals in the harmonics that are “Holy Smoke,” but that casts a spell in and of itself. It also takes me places—places that are removed from words.
“Rogue Planet” has a Dead Kennedy vibe that slays the punk scene. The cool rhythms of the guitar go hand in hand with the vocals. It’s all you know and love about the punk scene with Thee Oh See’s twist of psychedelics.
Then again, a softer tune is heard. It’s a song of culmination. And with its mellow symphonies, it draws the listener away from all that they’ve been through throughout the album. It’s a particularly spooky and eerie vibe that pulls it all together.
All in all, the Mutilator Defeated at Last album by Thee Oh See’s is a world of psychedelia in and of its own. As it drifts through the various inspirations of our day and age, it unfolds into a world of its own. It’s a world of good times and the gnarliness of the life of a psychedelic.
Check out Mutilator Defeated at Last by Thee Oh Sees on Bandcamp here.
This essay was written by Bryan Montijo, who primarily focuses on music, spirituality, and psychedelics. Bryan has written a few novels, which can be found at wattpad@CraftedTales. He also has his own blog, where he discusses everything he loves, from music to nature and writing. You can find it here at medium@bmontijo555.
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