Photos of Wye Oak at The Earl in Atlanta, GA on November 14th, 2018
Photos of Wye Oak at SXSW 2016 in Austin, TX
Photos of Wye Oak at The Parish in Austin, TX on July 6th, 2014
Photos of Wye Oak at Webster Hall in New York, NY on May 7th, 2014
Photos of Wye Oak at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY on September 20th, 2012
QRO’s review of Wye Oak at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, ON, Canada on December 8th, 2011
QRO’s review of Wye Oak at Uptown Theatre in Kansas City, KS on October 12th, 2011
Photos of Wye Oak at SXSW 2011
Photos of Wye Oak at Koko in London, U.K. on February 23rd, 2011
Photos of Wye Oak at 2010 Siren Music Festival on Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY
Once upon a time, Wye Oak was a Baltimore indie-pop/folk duo named after the state tree of Maryland. But they have grown since then, through the most familiar of twenty-first century instruments, synthesizers. Yet while many other acts have done it suddenly, seemingly either to catch on the trend, or just because it’s easier, Wye Oak have slowly evolved to the point of The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs.
Louder is a synths record, but they feel more organic than the latest craze to hit the dance floor or indie artist sitting down to the electronic keys. There’s the strong press, with both depth and height, to the title track, but also a Beach House-esque wistfulness in “You of All People”. The scramble forward of “The Instrument” and “Symmetry” channel rock energy, while “Say Hello” is a bolder journey upward.
While other folk-to-synth journeys have felt unnecessary on one end or the other (or just all together), Wye Oak’s has developed nicely.