OCS

A quiet, half-baked side project for Coachwhips veteran John Dwyer, OCS avoids chaotic garage-stomping in favor of stripped-down, acoustic folk tunes infused with electronic-noise collages from co-conspirator Patrick Mullins. Touring in support of its latest double disc, 3&4: Songs About Death and Dying and Get Stoved, both on the Narnack Records imprint, the spirited San Francisco-based duo takes a page from the Lou Barlow book of fractured singer-songwriters while recalling the bedroom romanticism of Daniel Johnston. Dwyer’s boyishly vulnerable tremble envelops tender melodies and bluesy, back-porch strum-alongs that run the gamut from heartache to nosebleed. At once soothing and haunting, OCS takes the lo-fi approach in the home studio, misusing clarinets, sleigh bells, harmonicas and the occasional field recording for a curiously enjoyable batch of one-take muddle. Disjointed and confessional, this fringe by-product from two veteran basement dwellers embraces a cracked worldview full of childlike wonder and sonic red herrings.