woods1

In the middle of the Woods' set on September 9th, I overheard a crowd member declare, "It's a bunch of freaky, open-chord guitar strumming, and I love it!" Although simply-put that statement serves as a perfect synopsis of the band's performance at the Jackpot Music Hall in Lawrence, KS.

Woods began their set by building an instrumental track from tape loops and sampled sounds before launching into their more streamlined, pop-infused version of freak-folk. Once they did, the audience became instantly hooked on the high-pitched melodies, the harmonic interplay between musicians and the sudden outbursts of fuzzy guitar riffs that reside somewhere between Neil Young's "Everyone Knows This is Nowhere" and the prog-rock of Can. Combine that with the floor-sitting, knob-turning noise-maker who added the freak to the folk by manipulating his own vocals with a plethora of devices and Woods was able to eclipse the quality of their record "Songs of Shame." However, the show, like their latest album, did seem to suffer at times because of the repetitive nature of their sound; yet not a person at the show could be labeled bored or even disinterested. Proving even the simplest of guitar strums can turn into something much more compelling given the right injection of imagination and passion.

video by Scott Stewart of Artstew

Learn more about Woods through their label Woodist

posted by: Harold Johns III

" />Live Recap: Woods | The Rathaus

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Live Recap: Woods

September 11, 2009 Art, communication, The Rathaus

woods1

In the middle of the Woods‘ set on September 9th, I overheard a crowd member declare, “It’s a bunch of freaky, open-chord guitar strumming, and I love it!” Although simply-put that statement serves as a perfect synopsis of the band’s performance at the Jackpot Music Hall in Lawrence, KS.

Woods began their set by building an instrumental track from tape loops and sampled sounds before launching into their more streamlined, pop-infused version of freak-folk. Once they did, the audience became instantly hooked on the high-pitched melodies, the harmonic interplay between musicians and the sudden outbursts of fuzzy guitar riffs that reside somewhere between Neil Young’s “Everyone Knows This is Nowhere” and the prog-rock of Can. Combine that with the floor-sitting, knob-turning noise-maker who added the freak to the folk by manipulating his own vocals with a plethora of devices and Woods was able to eclipse the quality of their record “Songs of Shame.” However, the show, like their latest album, did seem to suffer at times because of the repetitive nature of their sound; yet not a person at the show could be labeled bored or even disinterested. Proving even the simplest of guitar strums can turn into something much more compelling given the right injection of imagination and passion.


video by Scott Stewart of Artstew

Learn more about Woods through their label Woodist

posted by: Harold Johns III

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