Wye Oak – Shriek

From alt-folk to garage-shred to garage-synth to synth-synth, the Wye Oak tree has certainly grown, out and up....
Wye Oak : Shriek
7.7 Merge
2014 

Wye Oak : Shriek

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Baltimore duo Wye Oak – singer-guitarist Jenn Wasner and drummer-keyboardist Andy Stack – began as a typical, if better, alt-folk duo (the kind that named their band after a tree, if the state tree of their home state of Maryland) with If Children (QRO review). Since then, however, they’ve seriously grown, expanding their sound with follow-up The Knot (QRO review), then evolving into keyboards with Civilian (QRO review) – Stack drums with one hand, plays keys with the other live – and now comes the Shriek, where the band goes full-board for dreamy synths, but with substance.

Yes, Shriek is an airy record, from opener “Before” on, certainly far away from the groups original shredding performance live. But it ranges on that new field, from the twinkling (“Sick Talk”) to the encompassing (the preceding “Glory”). There are darker moments (the ominous “Paradise”, moodier “School of Eyes”), but also brighter ones (the following “Despicable Animal”, chill-bright closer “Logic of Color”).

From alt-folk to garage-shred to garage-synth to synth-synth, the Wye Oak tree has certainly grown, out and up.

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