Osees are an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1997, now based in Los Angeles, California. The band currently consists of primary songwriter and core member John Dwyer (vocals, guitar), Tim Hellman (bass), Dan Rincon (drums), Paul Quattrone (drums) and Tomas Dolas (keyboards). Osees sound incorporates a wide range of rock genres, including 1960s garage rock and psychedelic rock, punk rock, noise rock, art punk, and 1980s post-punk.
Initially an outlet for Dwyer (Coachwhips, Pink and Brown and The Hospitals) to release experimental home recordings, Osees evolved into a full band, featuring Brigid Dawson (vocals, keyboard), Petey Dammit (bass, guitar), Mike Shoun (drums), and Lars Finberg (drums, guitar). Over the course of several releases and genre transitions, the band became noted for their prolific discography, energetic live shows, and whimsical visual aesthetic. The band has changed its lineup and name several times, having previously been known as Orinoka Crash Suite, OCS, Orange County Sound, The Ohsees, The Oh Sees, Thee Oh Sees, and Oh Sees.
In late 2013, it was announced that the band would be entering a hiatus. A new studio album, however, entitled Drop, was released in 2014, and Oh Sees subsequently toured as a three-piece, with Sic Alps bassist Tim Hellman and White Fence drummer Nick Murray replacing Dawson, Dammit!, and Shoun. In 2015, Dawson returned to the band, in a studio capacity, for its next studio album, Mutilator Defeated At Last. Following its release, Dwyer and Hellman began touring with two drummers, Ryan Moutinho and Dan Rincon, replacing Murray. Touring extensively, this line-up recorded the band's seventeenth and eighteenth studio albums, A Weird Exits and An Odd Entrances, with Moutinho departing in late 2016 to focus on his own projects.
With the arrival of new drummer Paul Quattrone, and an ever-increasing public profile, the band recorded its nineteenth album, Orc, with co-producers Ty Segall, Eric Bauer and Enrique Tena. In late 2017, Dwyer reunited with Dawson for a primarily acoustic album, Memory of a Cut Off Head, which returned to the band's lo-fi roots, and featured several former and current Oh Sees members.
After two studio albums featuring a heavy, progressive rock sound—Smote Reverser (2018) and Face Stabber (2019)—the band changed its name to Osees in July 2020, with the announcement of their twenty-third album, Protean Threat. The group continued to release prolifically under the new name, putting out Metamorphosed, alongside a remix album and an EP before the end of 2020. The band's twenty-fifth album, A Foul Form, will be released on August 12, 2022.
