Ducks Battle Satan

Look what I found!

There are many reasons why I hate hippies. For instance when a stinky hippy says ” Wow you bought a new car. That is a strain on the environment” whilst they drive around in a lead petrol spewing van. Or the time that a shitty hippy chewed me out because I am a lawyer. I had the audacity to ask him what he did and he then proceeded to snottily tell me how he was on a fucking spiritual journey and that he was on the dole to help facilitate his on going fascination with african drumming. Fuck off white boy. Or that stupid middle class white hippy chick who tells me how she is going to spread the value of human rights to developing Asia and all I think is “Fuck off. That’s exactly what the third world needs, another white child of privilege talking down to brown people.” Fucking great. She didn’t even get just how fucking racist and condescending she was being. Or that “vegan activist” who never told her mates that she enjoyed a sausage roll when she thought she was alone.

Anyway ….. sorry about that. Hippies are no good. You may have gleamed that from this stupid little blog. I make this admission because I have no idea why I love The Woods so much. This is THE most played album on Mr Boo. By a country fucking mile I might add. This is their first release and is a CD transfer of the double C20 cassette version that was released on Fuck It Tapes in 2005. It is sweet, hippy, folkish, amateurish rootsy pop/rock at its best. This album is pure joy on a shiny silver thing. It’s songs about love and loss recorded straight on to cassette tape. The hiss, fizz and fuzz is all there. Just two guys and their guitars, one take and no drums. Fucking blissful, sweet melodies collide with lo-fi brilliance. It begs to be loved and fuck it, I do. But not in a dirty way. It’s even better than At Rear House because its pure, its amateurish and great and anyone who tells you differently needs to be punched.

I hate folk and I hate hippies, but fuck I love this band. Hippy-dippy introspective free folk at its best.  This album whispers in my ear while tickling my arse. Yes that good.

 I discovered Woods when I bought a whole stack of stuff from Release the Bats records of Gothenburg, Sweden.  I’m not one to listen to something before I buy it. Reference a couple of bands I already know when describing your record and I’ll enter that credit card number before you can say “for fucks sake stop! You don’t even know what they sound like!”

I’ts like a thrilling game of russian roulette but expensive, and you know, without the death and stuff.  Most of the time this works well. Others have been unmitigated disasters (LCD Soundsystems is a case in point. How the fuck did this record get such plaudits? “Daft Punk are playing at my house yeah at my house” Oh fuck off!)

 Woods has been an fucking discovery. One of the descriptions I read referenced Animal Collective. What complete shit. Lazy stereotyping is the fucking bane of decent music criticism. I like Animal Collective. I own just about  everything they’ve ever released. But sometimes they shit me. Their oh so clever obtuseness is irritating, arrogant and at times not very good.  Especially their Danse Matanee record. Fuck, I needed a medal after I sat through that one. I think Woods got lumped in with Animal Collective  because of the free folk/Brooklyn connection. Which is kind of like saying that Poison and X are the same because they use guitars and are from LA. I’ll say it again, lazy bullshit.

I bought Woods first CD How to Survive in the Woods after buying (Dove) Yellow Swans – Live During War Crimes #2 CD. Release the Bats were offering a discount on postage and who am I to let an opportunity go past.  The Yellow Swans I’ll leave for another day but that Woods CD quickly became the most played record on my ipod. The production was shit but then that’s the whole point.

There is a very endearing, almost child-like quality to Woods. High pitched, amateurish and at times painful sounding vocals merge with  gentle guitar melodies whichfloat through the air. The production is minimal and it all sounds like it’s been recorded  in someones loungeroom in between bong hits.  My only criticism of this record is Track 5. Woods Children Pt 2 changes direction after the sublime folkiness of the first four tracks. Mellow little pixie sprites sample their bad kitty and small children over bongo drums. Fuck is that a flute I hear? I love my noise as much as anyone. Do I need a tune? Nup.  But this little distraction in what is a fantastic record is a fucking travesty. Track 5 aside, Woods is my new favorite band and make a mockery of my very first post. P.S. This will happen alot.