Brooklyn's Woodpecker to release new LP, "Thanks Anyway" July 24!

Photo: Henry Hung 

“...clever, wordy lyrics (Slim Shady is namechecked) and sophisticated hooks betray a penchant for indie pop.”
— Time Out New York

What started as something of a lark involving bluegrass covers of classic punk and hip hop tunes has snowballed into the Americana-infused present tense singularity of Woodpecker's Thanks Anyway. The Brooklyn-based septet calls forth the spirit of their hometown through a left-field indie-folk hue one wouldn’t generally associate with NYC. Veterans of film and music festivals such as CMJ, Rooftop Films, McCarren Park Pool and Bluergrass Music Festival, Woodpecker claims a diverse membership, with previous bands spanning from Joan of Arc to Muchas Bluegracias, from Nihiti to The Whistling Wolves. Their combination of banjo ramble with cello fluidity loosens up the listener to a conversation-like narrative courtesy of filmmaker frontman Josh Steinbauer, whose eviscerating witticisms stick it to lost lovers and elevator farters alike, all with knowing, tongue-in-cheek aplomb.

NEW MP3 (Cleared to post): Woodpecker - "Every Boy In NY"
 

Woodpecker’s 2008 debut F-hole was highlighted by the fractured realism of "So You're The Guy Who's Going To Marry My Ex-Girlfriend."  The manifesto, which many wish they had penned to old flames, is deliv- ered as a mature, matter-of-fact statement about a unique stage in a relationship which somehow manages to fit in a pedophile joke without sacrificing the song’s sincerity. The band’s sense of humor is a gentle blanket wrapped around the somber reflections of their acoustic oeuvre — Woodpecker makes serious music without taking themselves seriously.

Flash forward to 2012 with the anticipated sophomore effort Thanks Anyway, and we find Woodecker at the height of a newly-crafted subgenre. The punk energy of Andrew Jackson Jihad collides with Sufjans Stevens-inspired alt-folk, ultimately culminating into a fully realized tapestry all their own. With half the musicians doubling as filmmakers, the melodies often play like a soundtrack to Steinbauer’s chronicles. Intelligent dissections of affected drama (“Movie People") unfold alongside love songs drenched in the blood curdling screams of zombie victims (“Married To The Movies"). Like a collection of shorts filmed on location, their hometown breathes behind them in tracks like "Old Photos Of Coney Island In The Queens Museum V. Coney Island This Afternoon" and "If You See Something..."; the latter focusing on that definitive moment when one must choose between approaching or ignoring an ex spotted in the subway. Clever one-liners make themselves known for an instant, prior to their envelopment in lush strings and pensive hooks. From the wistful melody of "Every Boy In NY" to the sonic bombast of Lynch/Badalamenti inspired "Black Lodge," Woodpecker has staked its claim through the warm melancholia of Thanks Anyway.

Artist - Woodpecker
Album  - Thanks Anyway
US Release Date - July 24, 2012
Label - S/R

Tracklist:

01. Every Boy In NY
02. Old Photos Of Coney Island In The Queens Museum V. Coney Island This Afternoon
03. Movie People
04. Married To The Movies
05. Matt & Ben
06. Paperbacks With Paragraphs
07. The Processional
08. Scrabble Travel Set

09. If You See Something...
10. A GH1 With A 20mm Pancake Lens And Whatever Else We Lost That Day
11. Black Lodge

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