June 23, 2010

WOVEN BONES - In and Out and Back Again LP/CD (Hozac)


  Austin's Woven Bones have had more than a handful of singles in the earl 10's,on various labels.They are indeed some busy dudes,and the thought of them ever releasing something of this magnitude never really crossed my mind.But alas,they have broken out of the "singles band" territory and into the realm of the full length.Leave it to Hozac to make this happen.In and Out and Back Again is 9 songs of their sort of patented,Jesus and Mary Chain knocked fuzz-pop.A genre,if you will,that has been attempted again and again by lo-fi obsessed hipster types.Especially in the early 00's,there were a literal slew of them.These dudes even go so far as to setup with only floor toms and a snare on the stage,Bobby Gillespie style.Nice touch.
  Woven Bones aren't totally ripping the JAMC,they really have a true d.i.y.aesthetic to their sound and vision,and a bittersweet punk rock swagger that sets them apart.They might fight into the Nuggets category a bit better than the darker 80's indie stuff,by comparison.After seeing them a few times,and hearing most of their catalog played live,I realized that they've got their own thing going on altogether,really.And they are taking it for all it's worth.
 Their sets have a pretty cohesive balance,in terms of styles and such.Lots of energy bouncing off one another,and some great chemistry.They have transformed their live show into this portable yellow package.It sounds great,and it looks even better.Puddles of reverb form to create a cavernous and damp tone that gives these songs exactly what they need to survive.The echoed vicious snarl of singer Andy Burr's voice fits almost too perfectly amongst the buzz-saw guitars and tattered drums.A little goes a long way,and Woven Bones are here to prove it.A near perfect debut.Check out their video below...

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