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_Note: NPR's First Listen audio comes down after the album is released. _ ------------------------- For nearly 20 years, guitarist, singer and label head John Dwyer has followed an
incredibly circuitous creative path: Charting the course of just _one_ of his bands involves breaking down a discography that includes records by Orinoka Crash Suite, OCS, Orange County
Sound, The Ohsees, The Oh Sees and, now, Thee Oh Sees. (This says nothing of his work with other groups around San Francisco, most notably Coachwhips.) Aided by bassist Tim Hellman and
drummers Dan Rincon and Ryan Moutinho (yes, there are two of them), Thee Oh Sees' sound is similarly mutable. Though its sound generally works from a psych-rock template, no two records
fit neatly side by side, even when — as in the case of _An Odd Entrances_ and its predecessor, _A Weird Exits_ — they come out a mere three months apart. Where _A Weird Exits_ was a
pummeling bruiser, _An Odd Entrances_ lets Thee Oh Sees' members wander artily through alternately jittery and hypnotic jams. At just 30 minutes, _An Odd Entrances_ qualifies as a sort
of mini-album, with three of its six tracks devoted to instrumentals. But it's plenty ambitious. The set's wordless pieces embark on especially unpredictable journeys — in
"Jammed Exit," synths burble like water as flutes flutter in a compact but free-flowing jam — but its best song brings Thee Oh Sees' many component parts together. "The
Poem" captures a restless band at relative rest, as a beautiful guitar line snakes through a thoughtful and lovely rumination. Though far from _An Odd Entrances_' only highlight,
it's a refreshing detour for a group that, by definition, never slows down for long. Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.