Sucks Blood

Following last year’s Cool Death of Island Raiders, it looks like John Dwyer and his Oh Sees outfit have adjusted to the afterlife quite well. They’ve returned undead with Sucks Blood, five albums deep and showing marked im- provement in the studio, honing in on their blend of reverb- soaked twang pop and crafting an album that finally lives up to the group’s potential.... They’ve taken this opportunity to tone it down a bit, settling into something resembling folk music for ghosts. The sounds hang in eternal limbo, kicking rocks out of relentless boredom and shuffling to guitar jangles in the corner, cobwebs overhead and a hol- low memory of life in the San Francisco sunshine.

This is the best of the early Oh Sees albums, along with Songs About Death and Dying Vol. 3 and Vol. 4. It Killed Mom and Invitation get into the garage punk style they would take on, while most of it is slow, dreamy and slightly spooky. The lo-fi production is perfect and gives it a timeless and unique sound.