i still keep my baby teeth in the bedside table with my jewelry

On their latest release, Civilian, Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack have let go in every sense of word. The lyrics reflect the notion, the music wanders beautifully, and for the first time the band ceded the album’s engineering to an outside party. In letting go, Wye Oak has created their best work yet.

Much of the album calls to mind a less brash incarnation of early-2000s alt-rock; Civilian is the chilled-out child of Elliott and Rainer Maria. The guitars are hypnotic, there are tinges of the psychedelic, and Wasner’s loose diction plays into her oft-floating vocals.

Must-listen tracks include the nicely partitioned “Dog Eyes” and the album’s title track which lets loose at the end with a squealing guitar and snapping percussion.

—

Civilian dropped 03.08.11.
Find out more about Wye Oak here.

sorting through the inbox

Princeton – Martina and Clive Krantz (stranger danger)
Wye Oak – Sight, Fight (more for the song, not so much the video itself)
Music Go Music – Just Me (80s public access)
The Lovely Feathers – Lowiza (oh Jimmy)
Dan Deacon – Paddling Ghost (ghost pirate, skeleton pirate, puppet Dan)
Owl City – Fireflies (lost and found childhood)