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Hush Arbors

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Location: Charlottesville, VA

Website: http://www.myspace.com/husharborsmusic

Bio: Yankee Reality. What does it mean? Does it portend that there is some unique, other plain of existence for northerners and / or city folk? ... (more) Something perhaps alien to, well, everybody else? Virginia cum citizen of London / rambling man Keith Wood knows all about it. Several years ago, he relocated to the city of crumpets and tea, where he, among other things, secured a gig playing guitar for notoriously intense death folk legends Current 93. In the midst of all this excitement, he has managed to write and record a brand new Hush Arbors album, his second for Ecstatic Peace!, and it’s his finest to date. With a full band in tow – multi instrumentalist Leon Dufficy, bassist Jason Ajemian, and drummer Ryan Sawyer – and none other than J Mascis in the producer’s chair, Yankee Reality continues Wood’s winning streak while introducing an embarrassment of riches in the way of surprises and curveballs along the way.

“Day Before,” featuring J Mascis’s unmistakable lead guitar, immediately elevates this triumphant opening number to ‘classic Hush” status. No one mixes sad sac 90’s indie with sun-baked 60s pop like Wood, and “Day Before” serves as a brief reminder. Next up is “Lisbon,” a bouncy, folk rock number reminiscent of the Byrds, punctuated by a searing solo. “Fast Asleep” is a distended, plaintive dirge that evokes wooziness and wispiness over a stoned guitar drone. “So They Say” picks up where “Fast Asleep” leaves off, a languid tune built around slo-mo guitar drenched in reverb and Wood’s gentle voice singing lines like “Down this gap, it divides us / The hanging rock, the sun flare / I’m taking the longest route to the bottom / But I know my way around there.” Think the third Velvets album distilled to its essence, without all the shit about drag queens. “One Way Ticket” is up next and one of the most adventurous Hush Arbors songs since dude started singing actual words. Built on a wonderfully apprehensive- sounding piano line and druggy atmosphere, “One Way Ticket” compulsorily recalls Movietone if they’d backed up Neil on his Elektra demos.

As for “Coming Home” – well, that one’s another curveball. Easily one of the finest songs Wood has written to date, this beautifully arranged number features a gorgeous strings- approximating mellotron every time the song radically changes gears from two step country / Creedence boogie to its out-of-nowhere chorus, which oughta have the girls in Band of Horses t-shirts swooning in no time. If “So They Say” is Wood’s take on the Velvet’s third album, surely “Sun Shall” is his “Venus in Furs,” compete with a propulsive, insistent Moe Tucker beat (provided by Mascis) and ominous ostrich guitar jangle.

“Take It Easy” may be the album’s best track. On this easy, breezy country number, Wood plays it relatively straight, owning up to his hillbilly roots and mixing ‘em up with more than a little Norman Greenbaum (Oh, who are we kidding? No one knows more than one Norman Greenbaum song. It’s totally “Spirit In The Sky,” folks). “For While You Slept,” again featuring Mascis, quotes Petty’s “American Girl” before lifting off into what could only be considered a wedding song – if the reception was held at Roswell City Hall.

Just when you think Wood’s mellowed out too much, “Devil Made You High” ends things on a serious art-punk tip. From the sounds of it, Wood probably agrees with me that The Smiths were best when they tried to rock out – “Shakespeare’s Sister,” “London,” Handsome Devil” – those were the jams! Yeah, so the albums ends with this unabashed garage pop tune which, by the conclusion, has gone totally off the rails, like the boys are trying to give Kawabata a run for his money. Maybe you were expecting something else from an album that thanks a wood chopper ghost in the liner notes and is dedicated to Link Wray? “Ride the tubes back home,” indeed.

Yankee Reality is a credit to Keith Wood’s vast talents as a songwriter and performer, but also, stands as a shining example of his breadth of focus and versatility. How many fools out there love Merle Haggard, The Dead and Dinosaur, Jr equally? I know one. (less)