Wye Oak - Civilian: a 'third album discovery'?

Wye Oak are one of those bands that I've always treated with mild apathy. Their previous stuff just isn't something that grabs me by the proverbials. The band from Baltimore is made up of a duo of Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner in a not so classic drum & guitar combo: Andy plays keys and drums simultaneously. What a feet (badum tish). Quirks regardless, If Children (2007) and The Knot (2009) just haven't been my cup of tea. It was, therefore, with a slightly begrudging heart that I put on their third LP Civilian when I received it last week.

What the hell. This record is pretty good. Civilian is everything that apparently passed me by with the hype of Knot (2009). It's not the best record I've ever heard and it does lull somewhat about two thirds of the way through, but I've found myself listening to it about 10 times in the past week. The songs are catchy as hell. Even on the second listen through, I found myself thinking 'Oh yeah, what a classic' despite hearing the song in question once previously. The title track (will open Spotify) is a highlight but if I were to take one song from the album, it'd probably be Altar (video below: apologies for poor sound quality).

They are, of course, at SXSW at the moment and if you're also lucky enough to be there, they're playing The Convention centre on Wednesday. Us Brits are going to have to be patient as it doesn't look like there's anything in their diary this side of the pond. I can't imagine that they're not appearing at any festivals though; so if you see their name on the program, go check them out if not for the drummer keyboard man alone.