Woods - At Echo Lake (Vinyl LP, CD)

What does go on with certain bands is that they're truly gifted enough to shift peoples perceptions of what they're about without compromising their overall sound that much. Woods are total flag bearers for a generation of young experimental yank-rock tykes with a pure DIY ethic similar to Mike Sniper of Blank Dogs. 'At Echo Lake' is just fucking ace from start to finish - more hazy new wave Byrds/hypnotic slacker & spectral psych folk-pop than the occasional smacked-out Beach Boys/country surf route they took on their last smasheroonie. Those gently cracked androgynous vocals are spaced like Bradford Cox mixing it with Jason Lytle from Grandaddy. Beautiful. Each song glides along at a right easygoing, otherworldly pace and to be honest they just make me think of simpler, better times whilst keeping me totally optimistic about the future of US indie music. Get this.