Wye Oak

The way I see it, Wye Oak are the most underestimated indie duo on the scene right now. Five albums down and I've hardly seen their names at any festivals, any tours, anything. I only just discovered them a few months ago with the help of my boyfriend, and with how incredible their newest album is, I can hardly see how.

The joined forces of Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner make up the only members of the group, miraculously playing multiple instruments all at once for their live performances and sounding just like their recordings, if not better. The fifth album, Shriek, more electronic than the previous albums, comes across bold, clean and ethereal, with Jenn's vocals ranging octaves and forming into beautiful melodies that hover over dark, sometimes heavy beats. You go from the sweet, melodic title track instantly into "The Tower" which rages a bass line that continues throughout the song. The transition isn't jarring, however, just enough to push it into the heaviest song on the album, "Glory," that hints electronica riffs enviable of Julian Casablancas.

If I had one criticism for the album, it would be that the lyrics are so muffled you can hardly understand them, and this is only a bad thing to me because I really like to sing along with it and I feel like an idiot singing basically made up words and vowels. (It's actually a really nice effect, it gives the melodies much more attention, although, if you read the lyrics they are as beautiful as the music underneath them.)

Wye Oak's song "Civilian," (from the album of the same name) put them on the map appearing in shows like The Walking Dead and the movie Safety Not Guaranteed (a personal favorite of mine and one that I need to go watch now because I didn't realize they had a song in it until I started writing this post).  With a heavy folk influence, it's different than anything they released in Shriek, but still paves the way into what the album becomes. It's the band's masterpiece thus far and it needs to be heard. And that's why I'm writing a blog post about it, so my millions of readers will see and listen! (Insert silly emoji face here, because, well, maybe someday.) But in all seriousness, give this record a spin, it might be my favorite of 2014. (Julian and the Voidz doesn't count because he's always a trump card. It's the same as me not even counting the Harry Potter movies in my favorites. Am I getting off topic? I'll talk about Julian next time.) Moral of the story, listen to Wye Oak, all of their albums, not just Shriek, and then yell it off the mountain tops and tell all your friends too, because this band needs to blow up.

"This morning, I woke up on the floor thinking I had never dreamed before."

Songs my boyfriend showed me:
Before
Shriek
Glory
Sick Talk
Logic of Color

Civilian

This is a video of them performing for KEXP radio station. It features them playing a full set, and you get to see Andy play drums and keys at the same time. WHAT?!