Capitol Hill Block Party 2012: Thee Oh Sees

Photo by Suzi Pratt

As the sun set on a tempestuous Seattle summer day, Thee Oh Sees took the Capitol Hill Block Party main stage and lambasted the crowd with some bombastic California garage rock.

The crowd on Friday night was may not have been as thick as past CHBP main stage shows, but Thee Oh Sees laid down an effortlessly fun performance, a jarring change from Youth Lagoon’s earlier bedroom pop set.

The band’s psych-infused melodies blended seamlessly with a punk aesthetic for an uproariously good time. Singer/guitarist John Dwyer thrashed out on his insanely cool and customized guitar (with a lucite-clear body and metal neck), while the drums and keyboards ran spiral loops around his boisterous vocals. Garage rock may not be au currant with what’s trending in music these days, but its resurgence in the form of acts like Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall (a close collaborator of the band) prove that good things never fall out of style for long.