woolen men: s/t

The Woolen Men are three—two Oregon natives and a Washingtonian. They play punk-influenced DIY music in the Pacific Northwest tradition of Dead Moon and The Wipers. More than a sound or style, that means a kind of work ethic—do-it-yourself and do it a lot. The band is happiest touring up and down the I-5 or bunkered in their practice space with the cassette 4-track rolling. And it shows. Live, The Woolen Men are thunderous and energetic and the trio’s magnetic chemistry shines through in the recordings. Their debut LP, released by Woodsist Records, follows a handful of largely self-released EPs. Instead of straying from their fast-and-loose recording technique to capture the live energy of their sound, they simply recorded and recorded and recorded until they had enough songs to make up an album comprised only of material with that elusive spark. The ten tracks here represent five different sessions, and as many songs made the cut as were left behind. The LP was made to endure, with little attention paid to current trends or “in” sounds—what matters is that the songs are well written and executed with integrity. The whole thing was recorded to analog tape. The Woolen Men are Alex Geddes, Lawton Browning and Raf Spielman. They live and work in Portland, OR. Spielman previously released an album of solo material under his Polyps moniker for the Woodsist sister label Hello Sunshine.

THE WOOLEN MEN - Head On The Ground