A decade ago, Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack were waiting tables at the Golden West, the Baltimore restaurant where my brother used to wash dishes. Back when Wasner and Stack played their first show, they did it at the Golden West, a local institution with good hungover-brunch options and kitschy album covers all over the bathroom walls. The Golden West's stage is pretty much a windowbox, so that's where they played, their backs to whoever happened to be walking down 36th Street that night. Back then, they called themselves Monarch, a name they had to abandon when they learned that there were already bands named Monarch. Early on, they had a rep for being one of the city's better live bands, but it was it was still a surprise when they signed to Merge, and then more of a surprise when their first album, 2008's If Children, turned out to be a pretty great piece of small-stakes slowcore. In the decade since, Wye Oak have become one our most gifted, mercurial, unpredictable indie rock bands; I can't think of anyone who has changed more over the course of five albums. It's pretty fucking remarkable.
Album Of The Week
Album Of The Week: Wye Oak The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs
