NXNE - Thee Oh Sees

When it comes to sweaty, balls-out shows of rock'n'roll insanity, no one quite does it like Thee Oh Sees. Led by John Dwyer's twisted psych rock bark, the San Francisco quartet know how to work a crowd, not to mention play their instruments - something that raises them far above many of their lo-fi peers. From the get-go, the Great Hall's hardwood floors bounced to Thee Oh Sees pissy garage pop jangle, with Dwyer and co. keeping the intensity up and constant. But while the show began as a blitz of frantic freak rock, Thee Oh Sees wound down the set with the 10-minute-plus "Warm Slime" drone-out, effectively twisting and turning all that energy into a some hypnotic Faust-like Kraut séance. It was a trip, for sure, and one well worth taking.