Woods - Songs of Shame

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release
Soundclips

5...according to our Business Lady on Thu 09 Apr, 2009.

Songs of Shame is amazing. Ive not heard anything else from Woods (research tells me they have various tape reissues available and this is their fourth full length LP) but I'm definitely taking to this beauty. Opener 'To Clean' sounds like a perfect soundtrack for the turn of the seasons and the promise of summer. The guitar wails like a fucked up Mike Bloomfield morphing into Stephen Malkmus fried on acid at the Newport folk festival. This combination is exceedingly pleasing to the ear. The melodies are playful and catchy like the best Yo La Tengo tracks and vocals are too sweet. Thats just the beginning.. Woods have got deep fried acid folk and psychedelic rock all sewn up. Songs of Shame sounds as fresh as it does familiar and the recording tactics lend an authentic weight to each track. Youve got spaced out, nine-minute basement jams ('September With Pete'), Beach Boys quality folk pop ('The Number') and political songs of the like Neil Young would be proud ('Down the Road' and 'Military Madness'). An amazing mix of Frisco optimisms and New York cool, the soundtrack to the summer's bong parties, Woods are gonna be rocking my turntable for some time to come. YES!! Also, Woods are based around the song writing partnership of Jeremy Earl and Christian Deroeck of Menaguar (Troublemen Records). That only sweetens the deal surely.

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The fourth full-length by Woods, Songs of Shame, veers away from the lo-figuerillas-in-the-mist sound of their previous Shrimper long-player, At RearHouse, and presents both 90-second and ten-minute forays into skeletal psychedelia.The idiosyncratic songwriting style and vocalizing of Jeremy Earlis still present in spades on the album.Woods have toured incessantly as a trio over the last 12 months, and thesongs on Shame have had their mettle tested. Check out the straight-aheadpop of “To Clean” or the “Neil Jung” push/pull of “Rain On.” Elsewhere, anexpansive side of the band hinted at on their Woods Family Creeps LP findsfull flight on the subtle ten-minute stretch “September With Pete” (that featuresPeter Nolan of Magik Markers guesting). Vinyl version will be on Woods' own label Woodsist, we'll presell that in as soon as we get info...

PRESS: “Utterly lovely music—a huge recommendation.” —Boomkat“Every song is mesmerizing. At Rear House is the rarest of records—onethat is forceful without being forced and delicate without being too precious.Folk or indie fans should not miss At Rear House.” —Popmatters“Long time since I heard a collection of songs this maximal, with arcs ofimpossible-to-forget harmonies that rank up there with Siltbreeze-era GuidedBy Voices all rendered in a beautiful tape-hiss style that will have you crackingout your old Majora and Flying Nun LPs for a back-to-back spin.... [I]t’sthe songs you’ll keep coming back to, some of the best murk-informed combinationsof words and music this side of the invention of loop pedals.”—David

4...according to George Bush III.

All you need to hear is the track 'born to lose' and you'll be hooked. Seriously, the song is a real doozy. Ok, so maybe the entire lp isn't stellar, but it's well worth the cash, as is pretty much everything else that seems to come out on the Woodsist label.

Rating: 4 out of 5

So, what do you think? Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!