Woods
Founded as a side project by Meneguar’s Jeremy Earl, Woods started as a solitary recording project in 2005. Earl recorded the debut Woods release How to Survive In/In the Woods, a double-cassette that appeared on the Fuckittapes label shortly after the project’s inception. The project’s acoustic-leaning sounds veered away from the more traditional rock instrumentation of the parent band, and the off-the-cuff, lo-fi recording style cultivated a loose and searching vibe in the early material. In 2007, Woods released a slew of material including the Ram 7″, the full-length album At Rear House, and a CD reissue of How to Survive In/In the Woods, this time appearing on Earl’s Woodsist label. Woods Family Creeps arrived in 2008 and marked the inclusion of new bandmembers Jarvis Taveniere (also of Meneguar) and G. Lucas Crane.
Songs of Shame The next year’s follow-up album, Songs of Shame, was the best received up until that point by the prolific yet still largely underground band, earning tastemaking indie website Pitchfork’s Best New Music accolade and exposing the group to new listeners. Third proper full-length, At Echo Lake, which featured new arrival Kevin Morby on bass, arrived in late spring of 2010 and was followed up a year later with Sun and Shade. Apart from being endlessly prolific, the band’s sound was growing from the hushed solo fare of its earliest days into more amplified, roots-leaning rock, placing Earl’s high-pitched vocals atop ambling Neil Young & Crazy Horse-esque rave-ups. Drummer Aaron Neveu was added to the live version of Woods, allowing Taveniere to focus solely on guitar instead of the double-duty he’d done on recordings before. Amid a regular touring schedule, the band worked with California outsider circuit-bender Amps for Christ for a collaborative split-LP in 2012, and issued their fifth proper full-length Bend Beyond later that year. The band continued to expand their sound in terms of both recording quality and heightened production with 2014’s shinier, fuller sixth LP With Love and with Light.
Les musiciens de Woods n’ont pas choisi le nom de leur groupe par hasard. En ayant rapidement fui les rues bondées de Brooklyn pour s’installer dans la campagne new yorkaise, ils ont eu tout le temps pour composer sept albums en sept ans et prendre la tête d’un certain renouveau de la scène psychfolk garage avec leur label Woodsist. Leurs morceaux, juste bancals ce qu’il faut, regardent les Byrds et Neil Young dans les yeux et cherchent toujours la lumière au bout du tunnel.
