Donewaiting presents Blitzen Trapper and Wye Oak at Skully’s on Tuesday, October 13. More info can be found here.

Before the interview begins, some obligatory praise for Wye Oak’s sophomore release, The Knot (listen to it, in full, at the end of the interview). Admittedly I was relatively unfamiliar with the duo (Jenn Wasner – guitars/vocals, Andy Stack – drums, keyboards) other than checking out a couple of MP3s from If Children that we posted last year on the site. That being said, within the first 5 minutes of The Knot, I emailed the duo’s publicist at Merge Records and said something to the effect of “Is it possible to fall in love with an entire CD before the second song has even ended? If so, I’ll drop to one knee and propose to Wye Oak on the spot.”

MP3: “Take It In”

The Knot opens with the spacey “Milk and Honey” – the subtle effects-pedal-drenched guitar hanging in the background (the guitar playing – and the song itself – remind me a lot of Ashland’s Bel Auburn). It’s the first – and last – song that Stack will provide lead vocals on on the CD. The rest of the CD works on the ebb and flow of slow to loud, loud to soft that bands that Wye Oak have compared to are so proficient in (Yo La Tengo, My Morning Jacket, The Spinanes). It’s a beautiful sounding, at times loud and chaotic, CD and, as mentioned before, one that knocked me out from the get-go.

A few weeks into a tour with Blitzen Trapper, I sent Wye Oak some questions via email hoping they’d have internet access somewhere along the way. They did and the following are Jenn’s answers to the questions I sent.

Have you found that touring with a band like Blitzen Trapper – a band with critical buzz – has led to a “fan” buzz? Have you been pleasently surprised with the attendance at shows so far on the tour or have you played to smaller crowds than expected?

The shows with BT have been so excellent! It’s always interesting to play to audiences that aren’t necessarily there to see you. It puts you in a position where you have to try to win people over, and that really provides a good bit of energy and excitement, especially when you’ve been playing shows for weeks and weeks. It’s always really satisfying when you can get a good response out of an audience that’s never heard your music before. (more…)

After seemingly finding success in the U.S. on Capitol, Sweden’s Shout Out Louds have found a home on mega-indie Merge for their second album, Our Ill Wills. It’s a good fit; their smart pop-rock fits alongside that of labelmates Arcade Fire and Spoon. Downplaying the garage guitars featured on debut Gaff Gaff Howl Howl, the new record is drenched in majestic melodic sweeps and bouncy ornate pop. From the building lead of “Tonight I Have to Leave It” to the whirring denouement of “Hard Rain,” the album is a near-perfect mix of melancholic emotion and musical euphoria. Singer Adam Olenius wears his heart in his Robert Smith–like warble, similarly evoking a certain amount of sentimentality in simple lines like “On my way home in the car you held my hand” (“Your Parents’ Living Room”), or loss more directly with “Your love is something I cannot remember” (“Impossible”). He’s backed by a confluence of twinkling piano lines, reverbed guitar riffs, cracking beats and strings that make each song at once epic and epochal. Our Ill Wills is nothing short of brilliant, and thus the only thing one could wish for is that the band was playing somewhere other than the Basement.

MP3: Tonight I Have To Leave It
LISTEN: Full Album Stream