The Oh Sees

I can't get enough of the San Francisco psychedelic folk quartet, the Oh Sees.
As you all know, I'm give the most support and love to groups that are doing something different ... something that's hard to place and unique. The Oh Sees have something very experimental and bizarre under their belts, so how can I resist?

Everything's off kilter about these four. Structurally, they're far from orthodox (start, stop, start, false-stop, jitter ... ) Instrumentally, they're sort of folksy, but sort of noisey and experimental as well. At points, I feel like I'm hearing Jana Hunter do a Sonic Youth cover or something.
And I'm loving the eerie vocals, too ... the guy-girl switch-off consistently gets me raving about a group (the Rosebuds, the Fiery Furnaces ... ), and the Oh Sees do it with finesse and uniqueness. I've never heard a singer who can convey so much through such a dead, monotone voice. That's not to say the music isn't vivid or sincere and honest, it just seems deliberately slow and held back. But when you listen to each aspect of the tunes alone, you realize what an effort the band puts into every composition. Check it out!

the Oh Sees - The Killer
the Oh Sees - Invitation