Protean Threat

Osees - Protean Threat
Critic Score
Based on 13 reviews
2020 Ratings: #586 / 871
User Score
Based on 261 ratings
2020 Rank: #547
Liked by 16 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

90
Louder Than War

It’s those oxymoronical twists and turns that make Osees a delight to hear from every time as they power through their blend of scuzzy garage psych-punk and throw everything possible at you, just to keep you on your toes.

80
AllMusic

Much of the album has the jagged, buzzing insanity of early Oh Sees records, but where those records were blasts of noise, here the jazz and prog influences the band have gotten into so deeply invest the songs with a chewy oddness that helps them hit harder than they might otherwise.

80
Loud and Quiet

OSees are skipping across a plethora of musical touchstones, and continuing to blaze their own trail as expansive psych-rock pioneers.

80
Uncut
Osees, the latest incarnation of the Oh Sees, debuted last year with a 40-minute two-track electronica ambient instrumental, but here John Dwyer returns to thrashing, galloping warped punk, albeit with a more pronounced funk feel.
75
Under the Radar

The tracks do not feel truncated. In stripping the indulgences back, the band delivers the best aspects of their fuzzy guitar freakouts without sacrificing the groove-based jams.

70
Exclaim!

Even though Protean Threat proves to be an adventurous, quirky and downright strange album at times, Osees manage keep the whole thing sonically grounded and consumable, all while keeping Dwyer's winning streak impossibly alive.

60
NME

There will be moments at which you'll wonder which parts of this wildly diverse album you’re actually supposed to be enjoying, but it's certainly never boring.

60
Mojo

The restless vigour of Protean Threat ... testifies to the invigorating properties of that breakfast of champions.

60
The Needle Drop

While a lot trimmer than the preceding Face Stabber, Protean Threat is about as hit-and-miss.

60
FLOOD Magazine

It all adds up to an intelligent, uneven, and unpredictable record that, as self-indulgent and challenging as it might be, is also a sincerely weird joy to listen to.

60
The Young Folks

Through the surprisingly-short length of their twenty-third studio album, Protean Threat, Osees explore a variety of different genre-splicing ideas, and continue making quality rock music. The issue comes with its inability to focus on one solidified style, or one solidified theme, that could potentially tie the project together.

MasterCrackfox
75

Osees may continue to shorten their name over the last few years, going from Thee Oh Sees to Oh Sees and now to this incarnation of the group, but their sound here remains wholly intact as it has for a very long time. The psych-rock outfit have continued to expand their massive discography by at least one album a year for almost two decades now since their OCS days, now putting out their twenty third big damn album.

What is most impressive about Osees collection of albums is that they rarely, ... read more

nostalgia
70

2020 MUST HEAR ALBUMS #36

Thee Oh Sees/Oh Sees/Osees/The Band That Like To Change Their Name are back at it again with yet another thrilling and wild psychedelic rock album, but this time it manages to surpass the already quite high standard I've had for the band's new music given the quality of their last several releases.

'Protean Threat' sees the band explore a more punchy and punky garage rock approach to their sound and the result is an album that delivers track after track of ... read more

Stankysauce
76

Their more recent albums have been plagued by jam sessions extended WAYYYY longer than necessary.
But on this album they restrict their lengths to be much shorter, usually somewhere around 2-4 minutes. And just like before, the longer tracks (while not even being long) are much more boring than the usually thrilling and addicting short tracks peppered throughout. The guitars are fuzzy, the drums are groovy, the riffs are catchy, and the vocals are weird. Definitely recommend this to anyone ... read more

Mugweld
78

perhaps the osees marathon will end today who knows

pretty underrated and has grown on me significantly since i first heard it. each individual song is pretty short and goes by in a breeze which makes this album an easy listen. that may be a drawback for some people but i liked this approach. also throwing in synths eveywhere makes this a stand out in the whole osees discog as theres no album that sounds like this one up to this point. the songs may sound similar after one listen but they get ... read more

68

there's a lot of energy on this album, but it's not organized in a way that sticks with me at all

BestofBlackLace
70

Garbled nonsense album that still manages to hit the mark more often than not. Guitars sound like someone taking a fat wet shit, which is both a benefit and a drawback.

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Track List

1Scramble Suit II
2:27
76
2Dreary Nonsense
1:34
82
3Upbeat Ritual
2:11
79
4Red Study
3:12
73
5Terminal Jape
2:20
85
6Wing Run
2:06
67
7Said the Shovel
4:37
80
8Mizmuth
2:09
64
9If I Had My Way
2:47
76
10Toadstool
4:56
61
11Gong of Catastrophe
4:42
73
12Canopnr '74
3:00
72
13Persuaders Up!
2:23
68
Total Length: 38 minutes

Year End Lists

#13/Rough Trade
#33/Drift
#46/Norman Records
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Added on: July 28, 2020