REVIEW: Thee Oh Sees - Wait, Let's Go / The Mallard - Over and Under split 7" (Famous Class)

This was the other record I picked up at Earshot Records (Winston-Salem, NC).  Holy Crap.  $7 well spent!  The A-side by the incomparable Bay-area juggernauts, Thee Oh Sees, might be my favorite track from them (and that's saying a lot 'cause I fucking love this band).  "Wait, Let's Go" starts out with a bubbly, hip-shaking rhythm  that unfolds into a sunny B-section that sounds like a 1910 Fruitgum Co. hook.  Don't get me wrong, I love their bare-knuckled, head-down, rock approach as well, but it's always nice when Thee Oh Sees just lay back and give fourth a good-ole-fashioned pop song.  The B-side features another San Francisco act, The Mallard, and its easy to see why Famous Class paired these two tracks.  To be honest, if it weren't for the absence of John Dwyer's vocals I would have sworn this was an Oh Sees track.  I'm not meaning that in a backhanded way at all though- this recording kills. "Over and Under" churns over minimal changes like a relentless hypnotic mantra until finally it bursts fourth to unveil a towering chorus that echoes and reverberates triumphantly.  It's text-book example of reductionist psychedelia and its got serious balls ta' boot.  Get it here.