Woods – Songs of Shame (2009) [Woodist] // Grade: A

While most Lo-Fi bedroom pop tends to toil in somewhat dank & mysterious recesses, Songs of Shame is akin to a revelation that opens the curtain, lets the light in but fully makes use of the shadows still being created. Endearing yet at a distance, Jeremy Earl’s falsetto over these delicate campfire hymns finds that balance between familiarity & the exotic that is hard to resist even if you’re not the sort easily won over by the charms of Lo-Fi recording.

Songs of Shame is the latest in a string of great Lo-Fi Pop released over the past year and the album to up the ante for everyone else toiling in the bedrooms hoping to be the next Sebadoh. Unlike the loose sketches of melodies over aural tapestries and questionable musicianship that have characterized a majority of Lo-Fi releases, Songs of Shame is entirely accessible while missing none of the rough dissonant charm that’s brought rise and attention to the recent home recording scene. Spared from any sort recording wizardry, the guitars are bare and free to ooze with an unmatched level of confidence that underscores the musicianship’s subtle, yet strong technicality. This is Lo-Fi not bound to the charm of it’s limitations, but whose charm is in proving there really are no limitations.  Tracks like “The Number”, “Military Madness” & “Rain On” are absolute proof that sometimes you can have it all when you’re that in tune with what you’re creating… Woods are in that zone.

- My Pal the Crook