Woods - Love Is Love

Woods are a folk band that hand been around since the early 2000's, that haven't always caught my ear to be honest.  On early releases like "How to Survive - In The Woods", I couldn't get passed some of the low-fi production.  Sure, I got what they were going for, but I really didn't think it came off very well.  However, the band had an experimental side that came out late in the album that DID catchy me by surprise, from to the unhinged "God Hates The Faithless", to the truly charming and incredibly sweet "Broke".  Woods continued with this very low-fi Folk on 2007's "At Rear House", and the results really weren't that much better.  There were fine upbeat moments like "Hunover" and sweet folk tunes like "Ring Me To Sleep", but overall I just wasn't getting it. However, Woods really got their shit together on "Songs Of Shame".  They used the same formula here as far as their sound goes.  But here, everything came off so incredibly charming and sweet.  I felt like this was the first time I really GOT Woods.  Plus the almost 10 minute folk epic instrumental "September With Pete" is absolutely breathtaking.  2010's "At Echo Lake" was just as charming to be honest.  Woods was still going for their Low-Fi Folk sound, but this was just so sunny and happy that I couldn't help but love every minute.  But as cheery as and sweet as this was, it was also kinda twisted and freakish deep down, but I love it so much.  Clearly once Woods got their grip on their sound they started really churning out some great stuff.  2011's Sun and Shade" didn't come over quite as well, with more forgettable moments.  But overall this still seriously wasn't terrible.  On 2012's "Bend Beyond" however, Woods started seriously stepping it up.  They brought in elements of Freak Folk and even a little Southern Rock in their songs to create some of their most pleasant tracks yet.  By this point, maybe you've realized but Woods have become pretty prolific with released.  In 2014 they stepped up the production majorly on "With Light and Love" and kept the more southern and freak folk references. The result though, was just as pleasant to listen to.  Woods had comes such a long way since the early 2000's. Even their 2016 album "City Sun Eater In the River of Light" was surprisingly good.  The psychedelic influence was almost completely gone, as a matter of fact the music her was pretty darn straightforward.  There were the same southern flavors the band had adopted, but with their usual breezy vocals it worked very nicely.  The same haunting atmosphere was just as heavy, and funky tracks like "Can't See At All" kept things surprisingly fresh and hip.  These new singles from Woods have been surprisingly funky, and I can certainly get into that.  Let's check the rest out!

Up first on this surprisingly short album is “Love Is Love”.  Right off the bat we’re dealing with some very groovy drums and funky riffs.  There’s always been a sort of Classic Rock vibe to Woods deep down, but now that they’re going with a much funkier sound, I think they sound more Classic Rock oriented than ever.  But to be honest, I can really get into this.  Their usual Low-Fi production is almost completely gone, which I can already tell is going to rub a lot of Woods fans the wrong way.  But in return, the vocals are honestly smokier and hazier than usual.  Some of the guitar solos are just so soulful, if they really fleshed this out into a much longer album I feel like this could have been so special.  There’s a serious sense of longing in these vocal performances.  Not to mention, while Woods have dabbled in using horns for years they’ve never been at the forefront like this, and it’s pretty damn awesome.  It’s funky, it’s got plenty of great grooves, and in a weird way it sort of reminds me of the King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard album “Paper Maché Dream Balloon”, and I can certainly dig this sound.  “Bleeding Blue” is up next, and to be honest right off the bat Woods are going for this almost weird old school Western feel to this, it would have landed very nicely on the last Woods album to be honest.  It’s less funky, and it’s certainly more straight forward sounding, but man these horns and this southern Vibe continue to be a real home run.  Between the very hazy vibe and smoky atmosphere, I’m eating this all up.  But that’s just me, I know that Woods fans are going to hear this and think this doesn’t even sound like Woods.  And yes, it’s pretty obvious that everything that made Woods who they were so many years ago is almost completely gone, but as far as a new direction goes, I think “Bleeding Blue” really works nicely.  There’s still a very spontaneous feel to this, and while this may not be as much of a Low-Fi sounding record, it still comes off strangely D.I.Y, even WITH all of these lavish instrumentals.  Now, I think the biggest problem this album has lies in its consistency and mostly it’s length.  It’s only 6 songs barely reaching a half hour, so when one of those tracks fail miserably, it brings this whole album down a ton of pegs.  “Lost In A Crowd” is just that sort of track to bring this album down.  Right off the bat I feel like this is nothing more than just a whole lot more of the same.  That very whimsical sort of folk sound that has always worked for Woods is here and in full force, but to be honest, I really feel like Woods is in desperate need to mix things up a bit.  I love the vocals and the very Psychedelic lyrics that continue with this very Classic Rock sound, but I need a little diversity, especially on an album this short.  That’s not to say that this isn’t sweet and enjoyable though, there are certainly great Woods qualities to it, hell if you knocked the production down a few pegs this may have came off like an old school Woods track.  But I just seriously can’t get my head around this, especially after how straightforward and refreshing the first few songs were.

Thankfully, Woods DO shake things up in a certainly unexpected kind of way with “Spring Is In The Air” is the most psychedelic track here by far, with heavy emphasis on droning synths and some very jammy percussion instruments in the background.  While this certainly was a stretch, it ends up panning out really great for Woods.  If they weren’t already going for a seriously Classic Rock/Psychedelic Rock sound, they certainly are now.  But this just comes off so tasteful and interesting.  I love the very somber sounding horns that sound so worn out and exhausted, as well as the almost World Music inspired drums and hazy guitars.  On this one, Woods have really dived headfirst into this sound which is seriously a big risk, especially with a run time of 10 whole minutes.  But despite the monolithic run rime, it seems justified and keeps you interested the entire time.  There are even some progressive rock elements within those very quirky instrumentals that pop up occasionally in the back.  Obviously, this is a track you need to sit with and play for its entirety, and that can be rough since it’s completely instrumental, but it’s pretty damn worth it.  Oh boy, but up next “I Hit That Drum” takes everything great that just happened and throws it right out the window.   Immediately, the atmosphere on this track seriously comes off sloppy.  Everything on “I Hit That Drum” from the very droning synths to these very hazy vocals are laid on so heavy, but absolutely nothing comes off well.  This track actually comes off seriously boring and tasteless.  While other tracks on here have had this massive sense of Psychedelic Rock, up until now they’ve all sort of had that Woods feel deep down.  But “I Hit That Drum” is the hardest of left turns, and if this is any inclination of the direction Woods plan on going forward with that’s not good at all.  They’ve always been a sort of experimental band, but THIS is headache inducing.  Then we have this album’s finale, “Love Is Love (Sun on Time)”, which is more or less a reimagined version of this album’s opener.  Now, I have a whole lot of mixed feelings on this one.  In one respect, I certainly love a good reprise.  But I feel like in this case it’s unnecessary.  If this was an hour long album, that would be a completely different story, in this case “Love Is Love (Sun On Time)” comes off as sort of redundant.  Outside of that, this doesn’t come off necessarily too bad.  I like the much more up front and funky guitar riffs here as well as the heavier grooves.  Plus, Woods sound like they’ve got their heads out of this very Psychedelic cloud for the first time this whole album.  Overall, I have sooooo many mixed thoughts on this.  

Rating: 7.0/10

Give A Listen To: “Love Is Love”, “Bleeding Blue”, “Spring Is In The Air”

Overall Thoughts: Overall this album is just sort of OK.  I feel like musically this album is fine and what is here holds up for the most part.  But this is just kind’ve awkward for Woods.  They’ve always been super prolific with releasing music, and out of nowhere I feel like they kind’ve half assed this one.  The “Love Is Love” single is FANTASTIC, but for me, I need more of this.  I needed a few more tracks spread out over a long period of time.  The tracks that are here though are good, and show Woods moving in an interesting direction, I just need more of it.