Never Learned to Swim

Every year, like clockwork, another genre comes charging into the forefront of the music scene. This year, it’s noise rock. Over the past few months, we’ve been flooded by a host of noise rock records. It’s weird, because on the surface, noise rock doesn’t really leave a whole lot of room for originality or nuance. It’s tough to be convincingly noisy and communicate a musical idea at the same time, let alone to do so without requiring a lot out of your listener.

It’s hard to say just what Woods have accomplished with their latest record, Songs of Shame. It’s pretty straight ahead, unconvincing, forgettable no-fi noise-folk laced with the occasional schizophrenic episode of a guitar solo (and it bears saying that these, while certainly attention-grabbing, seem completely out of place almost every time). I couldn’t shake the impression, listening to this record, that Woods had recorded a bunch of run of the mill folk tunes, and then decided that they were boring, so they threw what effects they could to spice them up.  Problem is, they (for the most part) ruined a perfectly unoffensive bunch of folk songs rather than making them distinctive and challenging.  “Born To Lose” was transformed form a brooding, tortured ballad into a creepy, ethereal cut that is almost impossible to take seriously.

In many ways, it makes for a pretty frustrating listen. “September with Pete” is a seasick, self-indulgent mistake, with no melodic discipline. It, like a lot of other elements of the album, never justifies its presence on the record. Too much of Songs of Shame seems contrived and unjustifiable. Why did this album need to be lo-fi? Why did Jeremy Earl need to jack the treble so much on his throaty tenor? Songs of Shame seems to be the product of whim and context rather than purpose, and that makes it difficult to stomach. To be sure, there are some pretty inspired moments. “The Number” is a tranquilly anthemic folk gem that lets a bit more of the folk shine through, evoking a more raw, organic iteration of Band of Horses and belying some raw talent at work on this record.  “Rain On” is an instance where the vocal effects are tasteful and seem warranted and the guitar work is untroubled and refreshingly conventional; it’s wonderful because it seems real rather than self-aware.  Unfortunately, not nearly enough of Songs of Shame is that genuine.

No one should be heard to say that there isn’t some good songwriting on this record. The raw material is there, and there’s no denying that. The presentation, however, seems forced and unnatural.  The album seems uncomfortable in its own skin; the songs sound as though they were distorted to fit into a noise mold rather than the less en vogue folk space to which they seem more naturally suited. It begs the question: how much better would this album be if it were released alongside Illinois instead of Why There Are Mountains?  And that’s a question that no record ever ought to beg.

5.3 / 10.0