V/A (Mantles, Ducktails, Fresh And Onlys, Woods etc) - Welcome Home / Diggin’ The Universe

Woodsist are the up and coming label that remind me of the type of imprint I slavishly followed as a young man, in that they are American, have great quality control and a slew of good lop sided lo-medium fidelity bands. Woods have yet to strike a proper chord with me (surely only a matter of time) and their opening entry is lovely lo-fi pop, even better is Run DMT's 'Richard' a fantastic 4 track hiss and strum. White Fence an organ and drum machine treat, The Fresh and Only's win the race with a slice of fantastic 60's style psychedelic pop a la Zombies, 13th Floor Elevators -fab! Running a close second is The Mantles who somehow channel the energy and warped melodies of Love onto modern day vinyl. The Skygreen Leopards do a pretty loveable version of The Cure's 'Catch'. Alex Bleeker sounds less like Neil Young than he did on his recent '...and the freeks' album, instead a muffled Yo La Tengo or Yung Wu springs to mind. Side B has Moon Duo opening with superb minimal guitar and organ jam. City Center cover the Grateful Dead in a reverbed style. Cause Co-motion come across like a Tallulah Gosh fronted by man instead of woman, Art Museums again channel the sound of 1986 with scratchy melodic indie pop of the highest order. Nodzzz sound like Times New Viking covering the Beatles with guitar solo provided by the Feelies. Finally Ducktails calm everything down with some rustic back porch plucking.

This album is a success because its consistently of a very high quality. From this one listen I've heard about 5 bands I already want to investigate further. I'm currently investigating the reasons why the fantastic Real Estate aren't included but that's the only disappointment.