Brightest Young Things

all words: Phil Runco
all photos: Rachel Eisley

Wye Oak recorded The Knot in the dead of a Baltimore winter.  Placing seasonal stamps on albums is an admittedly tenuous endeavor – and, as Bradford Cox can attest, ill-timed leaks have rendered such designations even less significant – but The Knot is inescapably evocative of the cold months that bore it.  The music lumbers and lurches; Jenn Wesner’s guitar tone icy, her mournful voice inflamed with lyrics of resentment and domestic strife. It’s a winter album.

Yet, The Knot was curiously released into the swollen heat of July. Few albums this year sounded less fit to accompany barbeques or score a trip to the shore.  Unsurprisingly, the album made little splash beyond a generally positive critical reception.  But now, with week-old snow still clinging stubbornly to the ground and winds working up to a bluster, is the time to return The Knot and to Wye Oak, and as such Sunday’s concert was fittingly timed.

Black Cat’s Backstage was filled near capacity for the one-off show; the audience sprinkled generously with the Baltimore duo’s friends and family, and with the sonic youth, their x-ed hands eagerly thrusting digital cameras into the air. The close quarters met with an overzealous thermostat to create a sweltry environment, perhaps an appropriate match for the band’s slow-burning M.O.

Wye Oak drew equally from The Knot and its less sinister predecessor, If Children.  On songs including “For Prayer” and “Take It In”, the arrangements often followed a similar pattern: Wesner intermittingly drew the crowd in with her hushed but confident drawl, only to step back and unleash jolting bursts of guitar while her partner – musical and otherwise – Andrew Stack made his presence felt with crashing percussion.  Lather, rinse, and repeat.

And make no mistake about the force of Wesner’s guitar playing: she attacks her guitar, the chords growing louder as her head bobs and body convulses as if channeling a minor seizure.  While she is the heart of the music, Stack is undeniably its glue. A one man wall of sound, Stack puts near every appendage to use: his left hand manipulating synthesizer keys; his right alternately utilizing both ends of a tympani drum stick; and his feet operating a high-hat and a kick pedal.

The limits of the aesthetic the band has explored over its first two albums became apparent over the course of the show; the uniformity of Wye Oak’s sound sometimes causing each song to flow one into the other. A welcome reprise came with the debut of two new songs.  One rode a vaguely Western guitar line, the other coupled a sped-up vocal with punchy stop-and-go segues that tweaked the band’s usual loud-soft dynamic.  Both stood out.  Based on the strength of those songs, it’s tempting to hope that as the band approaches album three, it will be able to explore a broader and richer palette as fellow Baltimore brethren Beach House do on the beautiful, forthcoming Teen Dream.  Until we find out, we’ll have The Knot to keep us company through the cold.

Previously in Live DC:

• 2/9: LiveDC: Theophilus London @ 930 Club
• 2/9: Best Weekend Bets
• 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre
• 2/7: LiveDC: Augustana/ Graffiti6 @ 930 Club
• 2/6: LiveDC: All Things Go Presents: Reptar/ Casual Curious/ Fort Lean @ Gibson Guitar Showroom
• 2/6: LiveDC: TYCHO/ Beacon @ RNR Hotel
• 2/6: LiveDC: The Kills / Jeff The Brotherhood @ 9:30 Club