Releasing one of the year's best LPs in Sun & Shade apparently isn't enough for the ever-prolific Woods. Jeremy Earl and company also put out a 7" in July featuring the single "Find Them Empty" and now have a second 7" available on tour: a 5-song split with Kurt Vile. Check out one of Woods' contributions below: the fuzzy and psychedelic "Skull." If you're a fan of Woods, The Fader ran a great piece on the band's and the Woodsist label's current home-base in Warwick, New York. (via)
The latest installment of our mixtape series highlights the 7" vinyl single—a format that was introduced in 1949 by RCA and is still alive and thriving today. The tracklist below features 21 different 7"s put out by some of our favorite artists and labels.*
As you may already know, I adore the new Woods LP Sun & Shade. I think it contains some of the band's finest melodies and pop hooks to date ("Pushing Onlys," "Hand It Out") along with what is perhaps their psychedelic opus ("Out Of The Eye"). Earlier today, I caught the Needle Drop's review of the LP and learned that another album favorite—"Who Do I Think I Am?"—is actually a cover. The song is originally by Terence Boylan and is off his 1968 record Alias Boona. While sites like Altered Zones, Pitchfork, and yes, Everybody Taste, dropped the ball on this interesting tidbit in their reviews, TND's Anthony Fantano nailed it (though I have to disagree with his opinion of the album). Check out and compare the two tracks below while you still can, as Alias Boona is unfortunately out of print and very hard to find.
Sun & Shade is the kind of record you take out into the dessert with you, put on repeat, and suck on a couple hits of acid to while your subconscious commences an epic battle with itself. Or you could simply spin it on your turntable with a fresh cup of coffee on a sunny Saturday morning. Either works.
I'm no expert in the lo-fi and hazy folk-rock world of Woods, so I don't feel comfortable calling Sun & Shade the band's best record to date—but yes, I'm certainly thinking it. Despite the laid back vibe of Woods' acoustic psychedelia, this is a hardworking crew that's released an album every year since their 2006 debut. And as fond as I am of the band's last two full-length Songs of Shame and At Echo Lake, there is something very immediately appealing and accessible about Sun & Shade.
So far, Woods' forthcoming LP Sun & Shade appears to be a home run. We've alreadfy heard "Pushing Onlys"—a sunny and weathered acoustic gem that highlights Jeremy Earl's warbly falsetto. Now we have the 7-minute-plus instrumental epic "Out of The Eye." A simple uptempo bass riff drives the track forward with a playful wandering lead guitar and splashes of percussion. It's an especially mesmerizing and hypnotic track that dips its toes into the psychedelic Kool-Aid with a background of deeply-voiced and barely discernible chanting. If there's any subliminal message here, it's to go out and buy this record.
Stream: Woods - "Out of The Eye" (from Sun & Shade)
The vintage, naturalistic and weathered sound of Brooklyn's Woods is as bright and refreshing as ever on "Pushing Onlys," the opening track off their forthcoming album, Sun & Shade, due out June 14th. The charm of the track is largely due to the much-welcome falsetto of singer Jeremy Earl, whose warbly voice finds a less polarizing home in the higher end of his range.
"Completely fucked inside your motor home. Whoa, oh oh oh."
Former Woods and Meneguar member Christian Deroeck released his first 7" with Brooklyn trio Little Gold last month on Heart Break Records. A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, these tracks rip along with pounding drums, blazing guitar riffs and harmonies and hooks aplenty. Order the 7" on orange vinyl here.
