Review: Woods – At Echo House
Woods – At Echo Lake (2010) [Woodsist] // Grade: B+
I wouldn’t hold it against you if your first taste of Woods was last year’s outstanding Songs of Shame, but Woods have been kicking around for quite some time now perfecting their creepy and trippy folk sound before getting some much deserved attention last year. The reason I bring this up is because while At Echo Lake could easily be enjoyed alone without any prior experience with the band, doing so cheapens you out of the journey. With each subsequent release, the band has grown brighter and more confidant in their song craft. While songs used to build around eccentricities, those same quirks have now receded to accents around strong song structure, giving each composition a wealth of depth and character. And while this process was started on Song’s of Shame, they truly crawl out of the woodwork and into the light here on At Echo Lake, the band’s “California” album, if you will.
As always, Jeremy Earl’s delicate falsetto is the star of the show, which has quickly joined the ranks of Doug Martsch’s and J. Mascis’ as one of indie rock’s most distinct and emotive voices. Its range and vulnerability become a powerful hypnotic over the rest of the band’s rustic tone and understated gift for melody. It’s here on At Echo House that the band, and particularly the guitar, find the perfect balance with Earl’s voice, lifting the songs just over the Psychedelic swamp and into the sun-drenched warmth of 60s Cali folk. It’s the Addams Family cast as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, sans the 4-part harmonies, of course.
My only complaint is At Echo Lake‘s length: at just under 30 minutes, I can’t help but want more… and while that may not necessarily be a bad thing, it’s how the album ends that disappoints. The wind down of “Deep” and “Til the Sun Rips” never feels like a proper end-cap to such a glorious buildup. They’re begging to dissipate into one last hurrah before the sun sets on At Echo Lake, but instead of Dusk, the album just quickly cuts from afternoon to black. But that aside, there is too much here not to fall in love by spending a summer at Echo Lake.
