It seems that volume has become the norm in the San Francisco "garage rock" movement. With most bands churning out one to two records a year, they never really give you the chance to forget about them. Not that you should want to. What originally started as an outlet for John Dwyer's experimental bedroom recording slowly morphed into the Thee Oh Sees that we see today. Carrion Crawler/ The Dream marks Thee Oh Sees fifth release in the past 18 months and is probably the best album in Dwyer's 15 year legacy.

This record also marks the bands most straightforward release. Perfectly blending the psych of 2010's warm slime and garage rock of this years Castlemania. Don't get me wrong. Carrion still has its fare share of weird moments. Title track (half title track?) "Carrion Crawler" starts with a quiet tapping and some squiggly clarinet before bringing in the rest of the band and slinking through its near six minutes of music. Next comes "Contraption/Soul Desert" a rick rollicking good time of a track that opens the floodgates for what this album is really all about. If the band named the album because they couldn't decide which tracks were the most awesome i probably would have called it Contraption/Soul Desert/The Dream, though that looks a little funny in print.

Carrion isn't filled with the typical 2 minute garage rock explosions. There is some solid length on these songs,"The Dream" lasts nearly 7 minutes and doesn't disappoint for a second. It starts with a driving bass line and some gritty riffs and churns its way into a garage/psych freakout at the 5 minute mark, complete with echoey yelps and more gritty goodness. Little reverbed yelps and screams have become a staple in the garage rock scene and John Dwyer doesn't disappoint. His howls come across somewhere between a werewolf howling at the moon and someones reaction to having ice poured down the back of their neck. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time i hear him yell on "Crack In Your Eye".

Carrion Crawler/ The Dream feels like a big jam session, where the band got together, pumped out some great tunes, and had a blast. The longer tracks breeze by and the shorter ones are interesting enough to keep your full attention. If bands like Thee Oh Sees churn out so much music only to keep themselves from being forgotten it's a shame because with albums like this they won't be forgotten any time soon.