Thee Oh Sees bang out faultless noise-pop as easily as shrugging their shoulders. Indie rock makes a show of how vulnerable it is, as Mike Powell’s review of Waxahatchee’s Essential Cerulean Salts sagely notes. But that goes for other genres, too: Soul singers like Bobby Womack have spent careers confessing weaknesses, and let’s not get started on singer-songwriters. Indie rock can show up the phoniness of the whole major-label hustle by setting out modest goals and nailing the shit out of them. That’s what Thee Oh Sees do on “Toe Cutter – Thumb Buster,” which surfaced today via Pitchfork.
From April 16 LP Floating Coffins, this scraggly burst of loud-soft psych cuts through the orchestral pomp of previously revealed album-mate “Minotaur.” What’s left are languid, just-out-of-reach verses that shift into jagged instrumental passages. Good luck singing along, but when John Dwyer shouts excitedly, you should definitely “woo!” along. And maybe don’t wear sandals to a Thee Oh Sees show, because toes are important for balance and things. You don’t want them cut.
