Thee Oh Sees - Castlemania (2LP Purple Edition)

San Francisco's incredibly prolific Thee Oh Sees are back with another full-length album of original tracks plus a smattering of covers. While the group's previous releases on In The Red, Help and Warm Slime, showcase their amped-up, reverb-drenched garage-psych pummel, on Castlemania, John Dwyer and company take a more lowkey approach. Dwyer himself describes Castlemania as "summer-y and poppy"; on many of the tracks, electric guitars are jettisoned for acoustic, and the normally echo-laden vocals are a bit clearer.

Happy pop melodies, sweet and somber tunes, psychedelic moves galore, cover versions of The Creation and the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, and at least one garage stomper all rub elbows on Thee Oh Sees' "sunshine pop" album. Its release couldn't be more perfectly suited to the time of the year when the sunny skies return and the flowers start blooming. The vinyl for Castlemania is a three-sided double LP housed in a beautiful gatefold sleeve with a fourth side featuring an etching by William Keihn, who also did the fantastic cover art.

1. I Need Seed

2. Corprophagist (A Bath Perhaps)

3. Stinking Cloud

4. Corrupted Coffin

5. Pleasure Blimps

6. A Wall, A Century 2

7. Spider Cider

8. The Whipping Continues

9. Blood on the Dock

10. Castlemania

11. A.A. Warm Breeze

12. Idea for Rubber Dog

13. The Horse Was Lost

14. I Won?t Hurt You

15. If I Stay Too Long

16. What Are We Craving?