Woods live review
That a standard two-guitars/bass/drums/keys band has nothing new to say is, in 2015, nothing particularly new. But with Woods, the innovation comes from their approach: while many throwback bands concern themselves with aping specific genres, Woods target Oslo tonight with virtually all available genres within a specific era – namely the early-1970s.
Accordingly, their show veers from twangy My Sweet Lord slide solos to strung-out viscous prog and Dylanesque folk-rock poignancy, all helmed by Jeremy Earl’s earnest falsetto, delivered with the melancholic frown of a man whose DVD collection, you imagine, is all Muscle Shoals documentaries and Woody Allen. For the most part, too, it works – mellow jams and roots rock might not be natural bedfellows for Hackney hipsterism, but Woods’ amiability and undeniable songcraft bridge that gap.
