At the beginning of one of the tracks on this new offering from Toronto duo Woodhands, a repeated and failed attempt to make some computerized gizmo do as it’s told elicits a frustrated “Fuck this machine, man.” And that struggle between the animal and the mechanical is part of what makes Woodhands great. This is clearly electronic music but it’s also terrifically alive. Both agro and funny, frequently at the same time, all these songs manage reto feel really genuine even when singer Dan Werb is screaming stuff like “Why do they hate our band? Can’t they tell we are trying to survive? We can see the judgment in their eyes, so come on, motherfucker, come on!” Similarly, Paul Banwatt pounds the shit out of the real live drums in a way that you just know makes the sequencers embarrassed to have to try to compete with him. (Richard Rosenbaum)
Paper Bag Records, paperbagrecords.com