Woolen Men: Human to Human (Dog's Table)
From our own, Mr. Jim McHugh:
“Woolen Men of Portland, OR epitomize and edify ‘indie rock’ as a designation, but their importance lies in the etymological roots of that jaded term-turned-brand. Independent music was what it meant before the operative word was hardened by market forces into a broad generic label.
Self-releasing their music through grassroots channels has freed Woolen Men from standard label procedures and obligations, where artists are affixed by financial debt to alienating forces like marketability and scarcity. DIY is nothing new, surely, but Woolen Men are conscientious in their independence, action-oriented toward leftist ideals. Radicalism defines their approach to production and distribution more than in style or sound; their politics are applied rather than implied. They are exemplars not only of the ability to think The Coup, act like Crass and sound however you want, but of an ideal absolutely vital right now: musicians should aspire to improve the lives of those they reach. Progress knows no genre, nor any division. Or, as bassist Lawton Browning responded to my initial inquiry: ‘the artist’s only option today is love and mutual aid.’
Not Coup-like or Crass-ish at all, but a killer trio whose catchy screeds recall high-water marks of definitive indie: 80’s Jersey jangle a la Feelies and pre-James McNew-era Yo La Tengo; labels like Homestead and Shimmy Disc’s laid-back rock-ish fare; British stalwarts of strum, The Wedding Present; the underrated post-‘85 ‘Lawndale’ era of SST sans Ginn’s jazz-wank or any macho posturing, so….fireHose and Slovenly, this is all high praise!
These records feel like living artifacts of a receding folk music idiomatically defined by the tools available (cheap guitars, cheap amps, cheap drums) and the subject matter looming always around us. Propulsive and jangling,econo but not sleek, vocals are earnest verging-on-plaintive even when angry — these guys bounce along even as they look us in the eye about war, capitalism and all forms of pig-people.
I love Human to Human (Dog’s Table, 2019), where the SST quotient is cranked high into the rhythm section and the political discomfort skews the grooves into slower, nervy places. Post (Dog’s Table, 2018) is poppier and shoe-string raw all at once. Both are worth it in all ways: much like a clean river, an honest bike shop and a co-op, every town should hope to have bands like this among its truly benevolent institutions.”