Wye Oak – Civilian

Wye Oak’s new album “Civilian” makes me want a hug. In a good way.

I’ll admit I was a bit late to the party in discovering this Merge Records band from Baltimore, Maryland. My own personal experience with Baltimore being a one-off gig supporting a shitty compilation my band was involved with; in front of the Hard Rock Cafe on the pier during a torrential downpour. What I saw of Baltimore in 2001 was eerily similar to what you can see in Rockford, IL – parts of the town are affluent and wealthy, while other parts are run down and don’t seem as if they will ever recover. Throw in some struggling middle class and there you have it – America. Wye Oak captures and bottles that middle ground most of us toil in perfectly, to be consumed by the rest of us in the unglamorous middle, middling America.

About two months ago I discovered Wye Oak’s 2009 release “The Knot”, an album that burrowed itself whole in my brain, much like the worm that Kahn places in Chekov’s head during the opening scenes of Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn. Unlike the torture that the silly little space Russian went through, this was a good thing that I consider grateful for. It sat in heavy rotation between a musical sandwich of epic proportion with Sun Kil Moon’s 2003 release Ghosts of the Great Highway as the bread, P.J. Harvey & John Parish’s 2009 album A Woman A Man Walked By as the spicy chipolte mayo, and Wye Oak as the black bean burger in the middle. For me, those records were a perfect pairing of tone and emotion, sonic triplets meeting for the first time years after being separated at birth.

On Civilian Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner (vocals, guitars) and Andy Stack (drums, keyboards, vocals) continue to burrow into my brain, digging deeper into my medulla oblong gato. Dark gothic tragedies are wrapped in warm blanket vocal melodies that are then set ablaze with fuzzy guitars and propulsive percussion, on songs such as Holy Holy, in a true shoegazing fashion. Occasionally hints of folk and blues weave in and out of the albums tapestry, the title track Civilian being a perfect example of this, leaving the listener with unsettling thoughts of a life being lived under a guise of falsehoods and half-truths.

I am nothing without pretend
I know my faults
can’t live with them
I am nothing without a man
I know my thoughts
but I can’t hide them

Jenn Wasner lures you into her stark stories with vocal performances that are understated, almost too understated, but explode (metaphorically of course) into truly heart wrenching gut punches. On songs like the last track Doubt, her mumbled delivery forces you to listen closely to what she’s saying, as if she’s just as scared to sing her heart to you as you are to listen to the harsh truths she’s whispering in your ear. I would love to hear a duet with her and Mark Kozelek; in my mind they are the perfect counterpoint to each other vocally. Next time you get a chance listen to the track Fish and then go check out Kozelek’s performance on Duk Koo Kim. The record isn’t totally dreary and downbeat though, The Alter and Hot As Day are upbeat tunes that help balance out the tone, while still maintaining lyrical depth and continuity.

The production is just as integral to the landscapes presented in the songs as the songs themselves. Whereas the duo have produced their previous outings themselves, this time they decided to enlist the help of engineer John Congleton (Modest Mouse, St. Vincent, The Thermals). His work seems to have clarified the sonic vision of the group, enabling them to concentrate on the songs without having to fuss with the technical aspects of making a record. The watery feel of the guitars on the track We Were Wealth feel right at home with the image on the album cover of someone diving into the depths of the deep-sea.

Wye Oak have added another notch on Merge’s ever-expanding belt of successes in 2010/2011 and I can’t wait to give this one a spin on the turntable to hear it in glorious vinyl splendor.

Civilian is out March 8th and available for pre-order in the Merge Records online store HERE.

Wye Oak will be performing in Chicago April 7th at Schubas. Purchase tickets HERE.