Already beloved and critically acclaimed in the United States, the lo-fi folk rock quartet known as Woods finally make their way over to our shores, joining Espers and Cave Singers on the third instalment of Matador’s Shred Yr Face tour, commencing in November.
Fronted by Jeremy Earl, also the lynchpin of Brooklyn’s fertile and ever evolving lo-fi music scene with his Woodsist record label (whose eminently collectible back catalogue includes debut releases from the likes of Wavves, Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts and others), Woods have been slowly and quietly building steam these past few years with their peculiarly affecting and offbeat strain of rustic DIY folk. Imagine an unhinged Neil Young recording in a subterranean bunker, or a more ramshackle Bill Callahan playing around a campfire at dusk and you’d be somewhere close; these songs are raw, tender, special, and one of a kind, like dusty, gleaming gems found at the bottom of a chest.
Their fourth full length “Songs of Shame”, released earlier this year, rips deeper with both 90-second and 10-minute forays into skeletal psychedelia. Which is not to say that Earl’s idiosyncratic songwriting style and vocalizing is not present in spades but expanded, colored, and twisted into a tie-dye of soundscapes. Having toured incessantly over the last 12 months as a four piece (Jarvis Taveniere, G. Lucas Crane and Kevin Morby round out the band), many of the songs on Shame benefit from having been road worn, windblown, and deeply grooved. Make sure you don’t miss what is sure to be a heartbreaking, and heartbreakingly exceptional live proposition.
SHRED YR FACE 3, W/ ESPERS + CAVE SINGERS
November:
8 – Instore @ Rough Trade East, Brick Lane
9 – The Farmhouse, Canterbury
10 – Hare and Hounds, Birmingham
11 – Crawdaddy, Dublin
12 – Speakeasy, Belfast
13 – Stereo, Glasgow
14 – The Electric Circus, Edinburgh
15 – The Cluny, Newcastle
16 – The Brudenell Social Club
17 – Academy 3, Manchester
19 – Fiddlers, Bristol
20 – ULU, London
Fronted by Jeremy Earl, also the lynchpin of Brooklyn’s fertile and ever evolving lo-fi music scene with his Woodsist record label (whose eminently collectible back catalogue includes debut releases from the likes of Wavves, Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts and others), Woods have been slowly and quietly building steam these past few years with their peculiarly affecting and offbeat strain of rustic DIY folk. Imagine an unhinged Neil Young recording in a subterranean bunker, or a more ramshackle Bill Callahan playing around a campfire at dusk and you’d be somewhere close; these songs are raw, tender, special, and one of a kind, like dusty, gleaming gems found at the bottom of a chest.
Their fourth full length “Songs of Shame”, released earlier this year, rips deeper with both 90-second and 10-minute forays into skeletal psychedelia. Which is not to say that Earl’s idiosyncratic songwriting style and vocalizing is not present in spades but expanded, colored, and twisted into a tie-dye of soundscapes. Having toured incessantly over the last 12 months as a four piece (Jarvis Taveniere, G. Lucas Crane and Kevin Morby round out the band), many of the songs on Shame benefit from having been road worn, windblown, and deeply grooved. Make sure you don’t miss what is sure to be a heartbreaking, and heartbreakingly exceptional live proposition.
SHRED YR FACE 3, W/ ESPERS + CAVE SINGERS
November:
8 – Instore @ Rough Trade East, Brick Lane
9 – The Farmhouse, Canterbury
10 – Hare and Hounds, Birmingham
11 – Crawdaddy, Dublin
12 – Speakeasy, Belfast
13 – Stereo, Glasgow
14 – The Electric Circus, Edinburgh
15 – The Cluny, Newcastle
16 – The Brudenell Social Club
17 – Academy 3, Manchester
19 – Fiddlers, Bristol
20 – ULU, London
