Review: Woods - At Echo Lake
May 13th, 2010
Woods At Echo Lake [Woodsist]
Need to know: Brooklyn’s Woods have been making back-porch lo-fi symphonies for the last half-decade. Occasionally operating under the pseudonym Woods Family Creeps, the members founded the Woodsist label that has launched the careers of buzz bands like Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts, Kurt Vile, Wavves, Blank Dogs and Real Estate. Impressive stuff, but the band shouldn’t be overshadowed by their business venture, as they’ve made five exceptional records of their own in the last five years. Last year’s Songs of Shame found Woods at the forefront of the current lo-fi/DIY boom.
In a few words: Edging ever so slowly away from the sandpaper-rough production of their first three albums, the serene title of At Echo Lake fits perfectly with the band’s melted butter melancholy. It’s easy to hear where the band takes their direction from: the “Blood Dries Darker” evokes The Grateful Dead’s keep-on-truckin’ feel-goodness, “From the Horn” digs out a Nuggets-shaped ball of rollicking psychedelia that dives into backwards masked madness, and the banjo/sitar combo on “Time Fading Lines” recalls a soft-hearted Byrds-ian ballad. Their influences may show a debt to music of the past, but Woods’ creaky, soft-touch experiments come off as timeless more than anything and At Echo Lake is their finest example of this yet.
Best track: “Suffering Season”
R.I.Y.L. Pavement, Beachwood Sparks, The Grateful Dead, Built To Spill
Rating: 8/10
Buy, download, steal or don’t bother: Buy… on vinyl. The balance of scratchy production and gleaming melodies will
Sample: “I Was Gone”
Website: woodsist.com/woods
Posted on Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 3:19 pm by Cam and is filed under Reviews, The New Music.
