Pins N' Needles

“To be played at full volume,” should be the official directions of Thee Oh Sees’ 2009 demo tape, “Zork’s Tape Bruise.” Loud and unforgivingly noisy, this demos LP presents some of the bands most raw recordings yet, with cuts from their eighth album, “Help” of the same year, as well as all new original recordings. Songs like “The Count” capture some of my favorite aspects of Oh Sees lyricism - how easily poetic it can be. Succinct yet retaining its surrealistic sensibilities. This album was something of a rarity in the Oh Sees catalogue, only being pressed by Kill Shaman Records in 2009 until No Coast Records issued a long-awaited repress a decade later.