The road-trip has come to an end at last. Final tally: 6,057.6 miles, 15 states, 3 oil changes, 1 tune up, and the District of Columbia. All told my brain is a pile of mush right now, and I’m not sure I ever want to see a car again. Despite that, though, I did hear some great music during my travels, and for the last week or so, I have barely been able to stop listening to the Baltimore based duo, the Wye Oak.
The Wye Oak is Andy Sack and Jenn Wasner, and for all of you who are wondering, they took their name from the state tree of Maryland (I may have learned that during my oh so pleasant drive through the ridiculous Baltimore traffic). The group started out as The Monarch and independently released their first album, If Children, in 2007. Soon afterward, though, they picked up a label and a new name. In 2008, Sack and Wasner signed with Merge and became the Wye Oak…and for the life of me, I can’t tell whether this is a good or a bad thing. Believe me, it pains me to say anything bad about Merge…after all, they are the home of the Rosebuds, M. Ward, the Shout Out Louds, and oh so many more great bands…but in this case, I feel as though the Wye Oak has lost a little of what made them unique and exciting.
Wye Oak – “Please Concrete”
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If Children is a rough and gritty mix of folk sounds with ambitious ventures into harsh psychedelia that come together in sweeping, moving, and entrancing ways. The surprising and abrupt jumps from quiet folk to screaming guitars and pounding drums is strangely effective, and never distracting. And the album is successful because these occasional trips into psychedelic folk are tempered by songs oozing with sweet vocals and pleasant piano backing.
Wye Oak – “Keeping Company”
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Merge re-released If Children in 2008, and the band has since released their follow up album, The Knot. But The Knot lacks the creativity and grittiness of the band’s debut album. The sound has become noisy and heavy…and for lack of a better term, normal. The album seems less fanciful and somehow more oppressive. This doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have its moments (the song “Tatoo,” for example, is fantastic), but on the whole, it lacks the vitality and energy of If Children.
Wye Oak – “Siamese”
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I’m not sure what this means for Wye Oak, and I’m not sure which direction they will go with their next album…but I do know that I’ve barely been able to put down If Children in the past week. The album is a showcase of the band’s talent, and well worth a listen…or four.
Posted by the Needle
