Sun and Shade

by 
AlbumMay 31 / 201112 songs, 44m 21s
Psychedelic Folk Slacker Rock
Popular

Woods continue their consistent run of memorable releases with *Sun and Shade*. Loosely intertwined, country-fried acoustic and electric guitars, expressive percussion, and Jeremy Earl’s distinctive high-pitched quiver are mixed with gentle tape loops and sunny psychedelic textures to create a sound that encompasses both indie slacker and Deadhead sensibilities. The concise “Any Other Day,” “Be All Be Easy,” and “Say Goodbye” achieve a jangly, sun-burnt glow, and “Pushing Onlys,” “Hand It Out,” and “Who Do I Think I Am?” are the kind of superbly-crafted melodic pop tunes that Woods are able to pull out of the haze with disarming ease. “Out of the Eye” and the vaguely Middle Eastern-leaning “Sol y Sombra” sound like something the Byrds and the Velvet Underground would create if they shared a rehearsal space. Interjecting these meandering, mesmerizing jams into the set is an interesting risk that pays off by showcasing both sides of the band. Woods cover a lot of sonic territory on *Sun and Shade*, and the way in which they make the familiar sound mysterious is simply thrilling.

"Woods is a two-headed dog asleep on the porch & a butterfly on the windowsill... a Janus, a Gemini & a screen door. The sun won't fade & the earworms will not leave, but the jams go on TOO long for the girl in the back who wonders if her friends are at another bar. Still, the ballads always make her cry. Woods is up there relaying the Woods-feel: Folk-rock, fuzz, tambourines, tapes & raw lunch pulled straight from the yard. Pop songs & other things: Sun & Shade." -Glenn Donaldson "Loose, shuffling, and tuneful, the abridged Woods experience sounds more like Wowee Zowee than Workingman's Dead, but it hits just the right contradictory note of tight arrangements and breathing-room playing to get that back-porch, weird America vibe."- Pitchfork

7.9 / 10

Woods' latest is another solid record that finds them returning in spots to the experimental vein explored on earlier records and in their live show.

C

New York band Woods has a formula and sticks to it on Sun And Shade, which revives the jangly lo-fi folk-pop and the squeaky, childlike bleating of singer Jeremy Earl that distinguished 2009’s Songs Of Shame and last year’s At Echo Lake. It’s a strong formula, spiked with wide-eyed wonderment and shaggy camaraderie,…

5 / 10

6.8 / 10

Brooklyn quartet Woods really have a thing for the '60s. They're all over the stylistic map on Sun and Shade , their sixth full-length album in six years—bouncing from strummy pop to psych-folk to home-brewed Kraut-rock—but every single second is bathed in charming nostalgia for a bygone era. Commencing with four barely-there drum stick clicks, opener "Pushing Onlys" eases into a catchy, melancholy electric guitar barn wrangle, a perfect frame for vocalist/guitarist Jeremy Earl's screeching falsetto. While the album's fidelity gets progressively cleaner as the tracks progress, "Pu...

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5.0 / 10

On their sixth LP in as many years, Brooklyn's Woods tone down the psychedelic freakouts in favor of a folksier sound, reflecting a departure from their breakthrough 2009 disc, Songs of Shame and last year's follow up, At Echo Lake.

8 / 10

5 / 10

76 %

Woods are one of those bands that just can’t sit still.

82 %

8 / 10