Woven Bones
In and Out and Back Again
(Hozac Records)
Woven Bones is a terrible band name. Good thing the music is good. Their album In and Out and Back Again sounds like a link in The Jesus and Mary Chain. The vocals are often deadpan and the reverb knob was clearly turned all the way to the right and probably taped there. Add to that a generous heap of guitar fuzz and you’ve got a prime post-punk record. They would fit nicely on play lists with other reviver’s of the genre like The Horrors or Crocodiles. What sets Woven Bones apart from those others though is an absence of synths. They lean more toward the punk side of post-punk, seeking just to make dirty minimalist rock. There are usually only one or two riffs per song and the drummer has no use for cymbals. The drawback to having such a clearly defined and streamlined sound is that the songs all kind of bleed together. At least none of them are bad but none make you stop and really pay attention. “Creepy Bone“ comes the closest. “Half Sunk in to the Seats†blatantly rips off the riff to Dead Kennedys “Too Drunk to Fuck†but if you can get past that its another good one. All in all I liked the album. It’s funny how the ’80s keeps coming back in style but as long as it sounds like this I don’t mind.
