Husband and Wife: Dark Dark Woods
Husband&Wife have a new album coming out on February 24, 2009. Dark Dark Woods is Husband&Wife’s most musically mature album, with songs that twist your emotions one moment and pull you in to sing along with the next. Dark Dark Woods is solid from start to finish.
Dark Dark Woods opens with Comp Jam, which sets the mood of the album, waiting two minutes before Mike Adams asks in a melancholic melody, “What do you need to go for? I don’t know.” They follow the intro with Haven’t Got A Friend. This song carries the album into deeper introspection, with climaxing lyrics, “You sound like everybody else when you say you haven’t got a friend in the world.”
I Got Fat brings the album to a lighter moment with a melody that will stick in your head. The melodies are solid and you find yourself adding to the tight harmonies, “You aren’t the only one to tell me I’m wrong about love.” I particularly enjoy the trumpets, buried xylophones, and guitar slides. “I meant to take you to the bank, but I got fat instead.”
Red Cross Fever is yet another beautiful song, making full use of sizzling cymbals to paint the background. I enjoy the experimentation in the post-verse build up. It shows that not every song should follow the verse/chorus structure.
Husband&Wife is a prime example of the DIY attitude in indie rock. They manage their own label, Crossroads of America from their homes in Bloomington, Indiana and their label has released 16 albums prior to Dark Dark Woods, working with Chemic, Rodeo Ruby Love, Alexander the Great, Away with Vega, and Maps. This spring Crossroads of America will release a limited vinyl run of Starflyer 59‘s momentous Silver album. They’re also active in recording/producing bands in the Bloomington area.
This month Husband&Wife recorded four songs at Daytrotter! You can download them for free and read the article. Husband&Wife also filmed videos of the band performing three songs from Dark Dark Woods. Please support this band.
husband&wife – Haven’t Got A Friend from Crossroads Of America Records on Vimeo.