Wye Oak - The Knot

Genre indie-rock Publisher Merge External Links

It’s fitting that Wye Oak named themselves after Maryland’s state tree. Their sound is just that organic. 

The Knot, the sophomore release by Baltimore natives Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack is a gorgeous collection of Arcadian ballads and rumpled rockers. The record starts off with the sedate “Milk and Honey”, a moody piece with incredibly spare drum hits, pianos, swelling horns and a simple undercurrent guitar. It’s a provoking piece that establishes that the duo is not another ‘just drum-n-guitar’ gimmick.

Next is Wasner’s doleful vocal on “For Prayer”. Stack’s percussion plods purposefully along before distorted, angsty guitars explode in the verses. It’s powerful.

The Knot doesn’t so much aim for hooks as it does for moods. It’s a constant ebb and flow of swirling guitars, crashing drums and triumphant piano chords. This is never more apparent than the album’s midway point - “Talking About Money”. The seven and a half minute tranquil “Mary is Mary” follows not too long after. It has somewhat of a slow building, but it ends up being a rewarding listen due to the layers the band continuously adds on in the course of the song. 

“I Want For Nothing” is the band’s best attempt at shoegaze, simple cymbal hits punctured with country twang guitar and thick layer of guitar mist hanging over it all. Through the murky mix, comes a gorgeous string section. It’s creative, unusual and all totally welcome. 

Wye Oak’s music isn’t for the casual listener. It’s dense, brooding and even a bit hazy. There’s a certain majesty to the songs, and a startling level of complexity to the compositions. It’s almost unbelievable that all of the noise is made by two people - and there’s a lot of it. The most interesting part, is that it sounds inherent - in no way forced or assembled by computers. 

It’s a very mature album for this group at this stage in their careers. If they keep it up, their third record will be all that much more than The Knot  already shows - a band with remarkable talent meeting their full potential.