Witch Egg

{{Infobox album

| name = Witch Egg

| type = studio

| artist = Witch Egg

| cover = Witch Egg - Witch Egg.png

| alt = A mostly green-and-black monochromatic image of a skull in front of a green background.

| released = {{start date|2021|01|22}}

| recorded =

| studio = Stu-Stu-Studio

| genre = Psychedelic, jazz, garage punk, garage rock, funk, ambient, rock

| length = 37:50

| label = Rock Is Hell

| producer =

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title =

| next_year =

| misc =

{{Singles

| name = Witch Egg

| type = studio

| single1 = Greener Pools

| single1date = November 29, 2020

| single2 = City Maggot

| single2date = December 18, 2020

}}}}

Witch Egg is the debut album by Witch Egg, a side project of Osees' John Dwyer. The album was released on January 22, 2021, via Rock Is Hell Records.{{cite news |last1=Pearis, Bill |title=Osees offshoot Witch Egg prep debut LP (listen to "City Maggot") |url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/osees-offshoot-witch-egg-prep-debut-lp-listen-to-city-maggot/ |access-date=26 January 2021 |work=BrooklynVegan |date=December 18, 2020 |quote=[Witch Egg's] self-titled album will be out January 22 via Rock Is Hell Records.}} The lineup for the album includes Dywer, drummer Nick Murray, saxophonist Brad Caulkins, keyboardist Tom Dolas, and bassist Greg Coates. It was preceded by two singles, "Greener Pools" and "City Maggot", and was received positively by critics.

Release

Witch Egg was announced in November 2020 along with lead single "Greener Pools",{{Cite news |author=Rettig, James |date=November 29, 2020 |title=Oh Sees' John Dwyer Reveals New Project Witch Egg: Hear "Greener Pools" |work=Stereogum |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2108862/witch-egg-greener-pools/music/ |access-date=26 January 2021}} accompanied by a statement that the album was "an improvised set of songs by John Dwyer, Nick Murray, Brad Caulkins, Greg Coates & Tom Dolas", and was "recorded and mixed at Stu-Stu-Studio by John Dwyer."{{Cite news |author=Thiessen, Brock |date=November 27, 2020 |title=Oh Sees' John Dwyer Announces New Album Witch Egg |work=Exclaim! |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/oh_sees_john_dwyer_announces_new_album_witch_egg |access-date=March 6, 2021}} This was followed by the release date announcement and release of second single "City Maggot" in December.

On August 6, 2022, the band recorded a live EP called Witch Egg Live featuring four songs from the album. The EP was released on digital and cassette on May 12, 2023.{{Cite news |title=Witch Egg Live {{!}} John Dwyer |work=Bandcamp |url=https://johndwyer.bandcamp.com/album/witch-egg-live |access-date=June 19, 2023}}{{Cite news |title=Witch Egg Live Cass. Gold cassette |work=Rock Is Hell |url=https://rockishell.bigcartel.com/product/witch-egg-live-cass-pre-order-gold-cassette |access-date=June 19, 2023}}

Critical reception

{{Music ratings

| MC =

| rev1 = Backseat Mafia

| rev1score = 8/10{{Cite news |author=Sawle, Chris |date=January 17, 2021 |title=Album Review: John Dwyer, Nick Murray, Brad Caulkins, Tom Dolas and Greg Coate - Witch Egg |work=Backseat Mafia |url=https://www.backseatmafia.com/album-review-john-dwyer-witch-egg/ |access-date=26 January 2021}}

| rev2 = Pitchfork

| rev2score = 7.5/10{{Cite news |author=Greene, Linnie |date=January 25, 2021 |title=Various Artists: Witch Egg Album Review |work=Pitchfork |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/various-artists-witch-egg/ |access-date=April 24, 2021}}

| rev3 = Uncut

| rev3score = 7/10{{Cite news |author=Hasted, Nick |title=John Dwyer, Nick Murray, Brad Caulkins, Tomdolas & Greg Coates Witch Egg |work=Uncut |url=https://archive.org/details/uncut-march-2021/page/28/mode/2up?view=theater |access-date=November 5, 2021}}

}}

Pitchfork called the album "an instrumental jazz-garage chimera that's far-out enough to escape predictability and ghoulish enough to go bump in the night." Echoes and Dust called the album "really good", saying, "Water is not limitless. Yet the creative well of Dwyer seems never-ending."{{Cite news |author=Butler, Matt |date=March 11, 2021 |title=John Dwyer, Nick Murray, Brad Caulkins, Tom Dolas, Greg Coates - Witch Egg |work=Echoes and Dust |url=https://echoesanddust.com/2021/03/john-dwyer-nick-murray-brad-caulkins-tom-dolas-greg-coates-witch-egg/ |access-date=April 24, 2021}} Everything Is Noise wrote, "The entire aesthetic on the surface comes across quite heavily and clearly throughout the music. Normally, I tend to accent how an album starts and ends in order to underline what I otherwise refer to as its narrative quality. This isn't an album that relies on such an aspect, nor would it care to unfold itself using any kind of frame which could limit it in any way. This is a record which, I feel, goes out of its way to go somewhere and take us with it. I'm not sure where 'somewhere' is or what it looks like, but it sounds like the contents which we are acquainted with over the course of Witch Egg."{{Cite news |author=Miklos, Robert |date=February 18, 2021 |title=John Dwyer, Nick Murray, Brad Caulkins, Tom Dolas and Greg Coates - Witch Egg |work=Everything Is Noise |url=https://everythingisnoise.net/reviews/john-dwyer-witch-egg/ |access-date=April 24, 2021}} Mxdwn.com wrote, "Recently, the less imaginative among us have declared rock music to be dead. Rock music has certainly fallen from its commercial pinnacle, and may now just be another genre in a sea of genres, but guitar-driven music still has gas left in the tank. Look no further than Witch Egg's self-titled record for evidence. It explores the boundaries of both rock and jazz with such frenzied delight that it will whizz by all but the most open-minded of listeners."{{Cite news |author=Pitt, Drew |date=February 5, 2021 |title=Album Review: Witch Egg - Witch Egg |work=Mxdwn.com |url=https://music.mxdwn.com/2021/02/05/reviews/album-review-witch-egg-witch-egg/ |access-date=April 24, 2021}}